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- What is the UK Online Safety Act (OSA)?
- How does Snapchat comply with the OSA?
- I have a different question about the OSA.
What is the UK Online Safety Act (OSA)?
The UK Online Safety Act (OSA) is a new law in the United Kingdom that regulates certain online services used by people in the UK. The OSA aims to make online platforms safer, especially for children and young people.
The Act introduces duties for services that allow users to share or view content — sometimes called “user-to-user services.” These duties require platforms to assess and reduce the risks of illegal content and other types of harmful content that could be seen by children.
Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, is responsible for overseeing the OSA and publishing guidance and codes of practice for online services. You can learn more about the Online Safety Act on Ofcom’s website here.
At Snap, our long-standing values are closely aligned with the goals of the Online Safety Act. We have always built Snapchat with safety and privacy by design — limiting public exposure, setting strong default protections for younger users, and providing clear tools for control and reporting. We support thoughtful regulation that encourages safer online experiences for everyone.
How does Snapchat comply with the OSA?
We provide UK users with protections, controls, and transparency measures that meet — and in many cases go beyond — the requirements of the Online Safety Act:
Content:
We apply strict Community Guidelines that prohibit illegal content, as well as other harmful material and behavior. We also apply additional measures to reduce the likelihood of children encountering potentially harmful content.
Reporting:
Anyone can report content or accounts that may violate our rules directly in the app or through our online reporting tools. These reports are reviewed and actioned by our Trust and Safety team.
Appeals:
If we take action on an account or content and you believe it was a mistake, you can appeal the decision. We explain how to submit a locked account appeal here, or a content appeal here.
Minors:
We design Snapchat for safety by default. For example, we design Snapchat with protections for younger users — including limiting which public content is recommended to teens, and preventing adults from messaging minors unless they are mutual friends. These measures help us meet our responsibilities under the Online Safety Act to reduce the likelihood that children encounter harmful content or interactions.
Transparency:
We regularly publish information about our safety measures and enforcement actions in Snap’s Transparency Report.
We have also established internal governance processes to monitor and ensure compliance with the OSA, led by dedicated compliance officers.
Complaints
Snap users can make complaints here about issues including, for example:
- Concerns that Snap has not complied with its illegal content safety duties under the Online Safety Act;
- Concerns that Snap has not complied with its safety duties to protect children under the Online Safety Act;
- Concerns that Snap has not complied with its content reporting and complaints duties under the Online Safety Act;
- Concerns that Snap has not complied with its duties to protect users’ freedom of expression or privacy under the Online Safety Act; or
- Questions or complaints about Snap’s use of proactive technologies (such as automated tools) to detect, assess, or moderate content.
Snap uses a combination of human review and automated systems to help identify and address content that may violate our Community Guidelines or applicable laws. You can learn more about how moderation works – including our use of proactive measures and your right to appeal enforcement decisions – in our Snapchat Moderation, Enforcement and Appeals support article.
This form is available to all users. You can complete it using a keyboard or screen reader, and it is written in clear, simple language suitable for all ages.
Once submitted, your question or complaint will be reviewed by Snap’s Compliance Team in line with our legal duties under the Online Safety Act. We will confirm receipt and explain what happens next.
In addition, if you believe Snap has removed your content or suspended or banned your account in a manner which does not comply with the Terms of Service, you may have the right to bring a claim against Snap for breach of contract (which means taking legal action if you feel we haven't followed our own rules).
I have a different question about the OSA.
If you have a question about the Online Safety Act that was not answered in this article, please submit it here.
This form is available to all users. You can complete it using a keyboard or screen reader, and we’ve written it in clear, simple language suitable for all ages.
Once submitted, your complaint will be reviewed by Snap’s Compliance Team in line with our legal duties under the Online Safety Act. We’ll confirm receipt and explain what happens next.