New Ofcom Guidance just dropped
On 25th February 2025 Ofcom Guidance titled ‘A Safer Life Online for Women and Girls’ was released as practical guidance for tech companies.
The guidance aligns with the Online Safety Act (2023), ‘’The Online Safety Act 2023 (‘the Act’) places clear requirements on online service providers (‘service providers’) to address illegal gender-based harms such as intimate image abuse, and to protect children from gender-based harms like misogyny and to shield them from pornographic content. Ofcom has already published Codes and risk assessment guidance on how we expect online service providers to tackle illegal content and protect children. Once the duties are in force, Ofcom’s role will be to hold providers to account, using our robust enforcement powers as needed. The foundational protections that are set out in our Codes and risk assessment guidance will benefit women and girls as well as all UK users of online services.’’ (Ofcom 2025)
The guidance from Ofcom outlines four overlapping forms of harm covering content and activity set out in the Online Safety Act which was passed in 2023.
Online misogyny: This describes the circulation – or promotion – of content that actively encourages or cements misogynistic ideas or behaviours, including through the normalisation of sexual violence.
Pile-ons and online harassment: This describes cases where groups of coordinated perpetrators target a specific woman or girl, or groups of women and girls, often with abuse and threats of violence. While pile-ons can happen to any user, they often target women in public life, such as journalists and politicians.
Online domestic abuse: This describes using technology for coercive and controlling behaviour in the context of an intimate relationship.
Image-based sexual abuse: This refers to intimate image abuse (the non-consensual sharing of intimate images) and cyberflashing (sending explicit images to someone without their consent).
Radio 5Live hosted a 2 hour show on 25th February with Nicky Campbell to discuss an approach to Violence Against Women and Girls in light of this. Our Ambassador Alan Sinclair joined the audience speaking about his experience, including speaking about how easy it is to contribute to harmful cultures when the structures are not in place to report or feel supported.
But how far can this guidance go? How will it be implemented? Can Ofcom stop online misogyny influencers and politicians from using misogynistic language? Dame Melanie said the organisation would "absolutely" name and shame companies who didn't comply with their guidance, so the public would know which companies were "not taking [user's safety] seriously".
Read more about the Ofcom Guidance here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/consultations/category-1-10-weeks/consultation-on-draft-guidance-a-safer-life-online-for-women-and-girls/main-docs/annex-a-draft-guidance.pdf?v=391669
