Online Safety Act: new powers proposed to restrict children’s access to online services

The UK government is facing sustained pressure to address concerns about children accessing harmful content online. Recent developments (including Ofcom’s investigation) have brought these issues into sharper focus. At the same time, the government has launched a national consultation on children’s online safety, examining potential measures such as age restrictions, limits on platform features and enhanced parental controls. 

Against this backdrop, amendments to the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) have been introduced at a late stage of the legislative process through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, reflecting both ongoing policy development and pressure to act.

 

Legislative background and approach

The amendments follow an unusual legislative route. The original amendments proposed by the House of Lords would have resulted in secondary legislation to

1. ban the provision of VPN services to children, and
2. introduce age-assurance rules aimed at preventing under-16s from accessing social media services regulated under the OSA (user-to-user services). The list of requirements that Ofcom enforces under the OSA (set out in section 131) would then have expanded to encompass these new age assurance rules.

Those proposals were rejected by the House of Commons on 9 March 2026. In their place, the government introduced a new set of amendments which instead directly modify the OSA by inserting a new open-ended power to make further regulations in future.

 

New amendments: a broad enabling framework

The new amendments enable the government to require providers of “internet services” to prevent or restrict children’s access to specified services or functionalities, and to impose conditions such as limits on time spent on services or the times of day they may be accessed. The new regulations may also introduce compliance, monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. Importantly, these amendments do not impose immediate obligations on platforms. Instead, they create a framework enabling the government to introduce detailed rules at a later stage. 

The scope of the new power is deliberately broad. It enables the government to make changes not just in relation to platforms and search engines, but more widely to “internet services" in general. The amendments also require Ofcom, where requested by the government, to carry out research or provide advice to support the development of regulations and to publish that advice. 

As currently drafted, key policy questions remain unresolved. The services in scope, the nature of any restrictions and the relevant age thresholds will all be determined through future regulations. The government has indicated that it intends to act “within months, not years” following the outcome of its ongoing consultation, meaning the eventual shape of these measures is likely to be informed by that process. 

 

What can we expect next?

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is currently in the final stages of the parliamentary process. If passed, Royal Assent is expected within weeks, with any new OSA-related measures likely to come into force some months afterwards through secondary legislation. 

Alongside this, further proposals to amend the OSA are also being considered in the context of the Crime and Policing Bill, which may introduce additional delegated powers in relation to online harms.

For further insights on the evolving OSA regime, our team has previously explored key developments including Ofcom’s enforcement approach, the treatment of generative AI and chatbots, and service categorisation – see our earlier articles here, here and here.