The development of a statutory duty of care for social media platforms to prevent foreseeable harm to the users of those platforms

Professor Woods OBE, together with William Perrin, Maeve Walsh and others worked over many years to bring greater attention to the negative impacts of certain kinds of content online and develop the arguments about why it was critical to improve the safety of users of internet services. They successfully argued that regulation was possible and proposed a systemic approach to regulation, based on a statutory duty of care.

Their work resulted in the adoption in the United Kingdom of the Online Safety Act, which became law on 26 October 2023. Following the adoption of the Online Safety Act, Professor Woods has been supporting civil society actors in responding to the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom)’s consultation on implementation measures (there are about 50 charities/foundations in this network).

This regime should materially improve the online environment, benefitting all UK users. It is also influencing the approach in the European Union, in Canada and in Australia, among other countries, as legislatures around the world consider the appropriate response to regulating social media.