Recommendations & Conclusions
6 items
2
Conclusion
Thirteenth Report - Preparedness for on…
Rejected
The public may be disappointed with the new regime if people cannot quickly see improvements to their online experience or understand how their complaints are acted on. As the regulatory regime will not be fully implemented until 2026, there is a risk that public confidence in the regime will be …
Government response. The government rejects the recommendation, stating that Ofcom is not empowered to adjudicate individual complaints and these should be directed to service providers. Ofcom will analyze complaints for trends and its enforcement decisions will note where they were informed by …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Thirteenth Report - Preparedness for on…
Rejected
Effective regulation will require Ofcom and the Department to sustain the skills and people they need in a fast-moving and highly technical sector. To date, Ofcom has successfully recruited the skills it requires, recruiting people from industry and a wide variety of other sources. This has increased Ofcom’s headcount by …
Government response. The government rejects the recommendation, stating that both Ofcom and the department already have effective half-yearly and yearly workforce planning processes, respectively, to ensure they have the necessary skills and capabilities. Ofcom also has a systematic horizon scanning function and …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Thirteenth Report - Preparedness for on…
Rejected
The Act requires all regulated service providers to put procedures in place for handling complaints from users and affected people about potentially harmful content.14 Ofcom will set out, through its codes of practice, how it expects service providers to handle such individual complaints. Its expectations include that it is easy …
Government response. The government disagrees, stating that the Act does not empower Ofcom to adjudicate individual complaints, which should be directed to service providers. Ofcom will analyze complaint trends, and eligible entities can bring super-complaints. The Secretary of State may also impose …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Thirteenth Report - Preparedness for on…
Rejected
Ofcom itself is only required to consider complaints from organisations about systemic issues arising from a service provider and impacting on online safety. It has no specific powers to take action, or compel regulated service providers to take action, on individual pieces of content or to get providers to offer …
Government response. The government explicitly disagrees, stating Ofcom is not empowered to adjudicate individual complaints, which are the responsibility of service providers. Ofcom will analyze complaints for trends, acknowledge them, and direct users to support, while super-complaints will be considered from eligible …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Thirteenth Report - Preparedness for on…
Rejected
Ofcom told us that, while it is not able or resourced to act on individual complaints, its contact centre will be set up so people are able to submit complaints to Ofcom. Ofcom explained that this would provide a valuable source of data for itself, alongside other data, informing its …
Government response. The government explicitly disagrees, stating Ofcom is not empowered to adjudicate individual complaints, which should be directed to service providers. Ofcom will use reported complaints to identify trends, acknowledge them, and direct users to support, and super-complaints from eligible entities …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Thirteenth Report - Preparedness for on…
Rejected
In other areas of Ofcom’s regulation, such as broadcasting, Ofcom can take action over complaints about individual programmes. We asked Ofcom how it will manage public expectation, including the risk of disappointment that people cannot complain to Ofcom about individual pieces of online content and the risk of frustration people …
Government response. The government disagrees, stating that the Act does not empower Ofcom to adjudicate individual complaints, which should be directed to service providers. Ofcom will analyze complaint trends, and eligible entities can bring super-complaints. The Secretary of State may also impose …
HM Treasury