Ofcom have amended and implemented the new General Conditions of Entitlement, which were enforced from the first of this month (01/10/2018).

The General Conditions are in place in order to regulate all providers of “electronic communications networks” and services within the UK. Although there is actually no law in place that permits these providers to obtain a specific license, the General Conditions must be adhered to.

Talks of amendments first began in December 2016, with the new rules focusing closely on simplification and Ofcom’s current concerns regarding communication providers.

Changes include the following:

In an effort to improve internet regulations, the government’s Home Office and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are currently drafting legislation in order to regulate “social harms” online.

The proposed regulator has been labelled as the internet equivalent to Ofcom – the regulator of broadcasting, telecommunications and postal infrastructures. As similar to Ofcom, the regulation intends to include a mandatory code of practice for social media and websites. The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid and Culture Secretary, Jeremy Wright, are currently considering the terms of the Code of Practice. The terms are set to include age verification on social media sites, as well as a rule enforcing all sites to remove any harmful content within a specific time frame or instead face fines.

The Head of Ofcom, Sharon White, recently announced a call to action regarding the regulation of tech companies: