What is Ofcom? The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is the UK communications regulator, overseeing the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries. Its principal duty is to regulate communications in the interests of consumers and citizens.1 Ofcom is a public corporation, accountable to parliament, with the culture secretary being the responsible minister (except for postal services, where the business secretary is responsible).2 The culture secretary appoints the chair and non-executive members of its board through the public appointments process. Ofcom is funded through fees paid by the industries it regulates and is a net contributor to the Treasury, as it gives any proceeds from fines and penalties to the government (after retaining the amount needed to fund certain duties).3
How has Ofcom changed over time? Ofcom has a large remit and has gained substantial additional duties and powers over time. The body was first established by the Office of Communications Act 20024 and then given its full range of early powers in the Communications Act 2003,5 when it replaced five different TV and radio regulators. Ofcom gained powers to regulate video-on-demand services in 20106 and the postal industries in 2011.7 It acquired further powers in 2017, including the regulation of the BBC.8 In 2020, Ofcom’s remit expanded again to cover regulation of video-sharing platforms such as YouTube.9 Ofcom is also set to gain more powers under the planned Online Safety Bill, such as to fine companies that fail to meet a new duty of care to protect users from harmful content online (see below).10
The complexity of Ofcom’s remit and governance Ofcom must also have due regard for a range of loosely defined aims such as encouraging innovation and preventing crime. Cumulatively, these responsibilities are complex and can conflict. When they do, Ofcom must resolve the conflict in a manner best fitting the circumstances and, if the case is important, publish an explanation.15 The subjective nature of many of these aims and the complexity they generate has led Ofcom’s governance, and particularly the selection of its chair, to be drawn into political rows in recent years.16 Given this complexity, the IfG has previously argued that the expansion of Ofcom’s remit makes it increasingly difficult to find any one individual with the necessary expertise to lead the organisation.
Ofcom and the Online Safety Bill A key example of Ofcom’s expanding responsibilities is the Online Safety Bill, expected to become law in autumn 2023. This contains new rules for social media companies and search engines aimed at removing illegal content, protecting children from harmful content and giving adults more control over the content they see.17 Ofcom will be appointed as the regulator for the online safety regime and will be given a new core duty of adequately protecting citizens from harm. It will do this by ensuring online services make appropriate use of systems and processes (such as those to allow users to report and remove harmful content) to keep users safe,18 balanced against its duty to protect freedom of expression. It will gain the power to force companies to comply, impose fines of £18m or 10% of global annual turnover (whichever is higher) and block non-compliant services. Ofcom will publish codes of practice to help companies deal with these new requirements.
