To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have the sufficient powers to take down websites that promote or advertise activity offline which would be illegal if it were online.
Asked by
Lord Stevenson of BalmacaraDate asked
27 Oct 2025
To
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Yes, the government considers that Ofcom has sufficient enforcement powers under the Online Safety Act.
The Online Safety Act provides that Ofcom can apply to the courts for business disruption measures (BDMs) in the most egregious cases of non-compliance with duties under the Act. BDMs include access restriction orders requiring third parties to withdraw ‘access facilities’ from regulated services, including websites, in breach of duties’
Services regulated under the Online Safety Act have duties to remove illegal content.
Answered on 10 Nov 2025