Digital regulation | UK Regulatory Outlook January 2026

A busy year lies ahead for digital platforms, online services and media businesses. In the UK, Ofcom is set to finalise the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) categorisation register, implement the fees regime and intensify enforcement activity, with child protection as a priority. Implementation of the Media Act is due to step up, with a dense implementation timetable across multiple areas. In the EU, the European Commission's simplification drive across its digital rulebook will play a significant role in 2026. Below, we set out in more detail the key developments we expect to shape 2026.

UK Online Safety Act: fees, categorisation and enforcement

Fees regime

The OSA requires that the costs of Ofcom's regulatory work are to be covered by providers of regulated services under an online safety fees and penalties regime. Providers meeting specified Qualifying Worldwide Revenue (QWR) thresholds that are not exempt must notify Ofcom of their fee liability. Both the fee amounts and the maximum penalties that Ofcom may impose for breaches of the OSA are based on the provider's QWR. 

The government has established a QWR threshold of £250 million in the Online Safety Act 2023 (Fees) (Threshold Figure) Regulations 2025, with providers whose UK referable revenue falls below £10 million during a qualifying period being exempt from both fee payment obligations and the requirement to notify Ofcom. Ofcom has published:

• A statement outlining its intended approach to implementing the fees and penalties framework and defining QWR as "total amount of revenue the provider receives that is referable to relevant parts of a regulated service" (see this Regulatory Outlook for further details on the statement).
• Guidance on QWR, explaining how to calculate QWR in accordance with the Online Safety Act 2023 (Qualifying Worldwide Revenue) Regulations 2025.
• Guidance on Fees Notification, detailing the notification process and the information that must be submitted to Ofcom.
• A notice of the initial charging year, which will be 1 April 2026 to 30 March 2027. Providers subject to fee obligations must notify Ofcom by 11 April 2026 if they exceed the £250 million QWR threshold.

Before Ofcom is able to request fees from regulated service providers, the OSA requires that a Statement of Charging Principles issued by Ofcom must be in force. In November 2025, Ofcom published a draft statement for consultation, outlining the proposed principles for determining provider fees and addressing practical matters including payment procedures and invoicing.

Service categorisation and additional duties for categorised services

On 27 February 2025, the regulations came into force that set the thresholds determining when in-scope services are classified as "categorised services" and thereby become subject to additional obligations under the OSA. Following its assessment of services against these thresholds, Ofcom is required to publish a register of categorised services and a list of emerging category 1 services. Publication of the register was, however, delayed following a legal challenge brought by Wikimedia, which resulted in the first High Court judgment under the OSA. See this Regulatory Outlook for more information.

Ofcom is expected to publish the categorisation register and consult on the additional duties applicable to categorised services around July 2026. The consultation will cover duties relating to fraudulent advertising, terms of service, user empowerment, ID verification, news publisher and journalistic content and content of democratic importance. This timing remains subject to a representations process planned for early 2026, which will afford services that Ofcom considers to meet the relevant threshold conditions an opportunity to comment on its provisional decisions before the register is finalised.

Categorised services will be liable to produce transparency reports, and Ofcom has published guidance on transparency reporting. Ofcom expects to issue transparency notices, requiring the relevant categorised services to produce a transparency report, within a few weeks after the publication of the register. Categorised services are expected to be required to publish their first reports by summer 2027.

Priorities and enforcement

Protecting children remains Ofcom's foremost priority. Throughout 2025, Ofcom's enforcement of the OSA concentrated primarily on protecting children from illegal and harmful content, with penalties already imposed for failures to provide requested information and inadequate age checks. Ofcom has said that services that are most used by children must provide Ofcom with information regarding their child safety measures and implement timely improvements where necessary, with particular attention to risks associated with personalised feeds. Additional priorities for 2026 include addressing child sexual abuse material and grooming beyond file-sharing and file-storage services, enhancing the effectiveness of illegal content removal, and improving online safety for women and girls.

UK Media Act: a year dense with 'go‑live' dates

Public service broadcasters (PSBs)

From 1 January 2026, changes to the PSB quotas system came into force. The Media Act modernises the productions quota obligations of PSBs (that is, the minimum amounts of original, regional and independent productions that must be commissioned or produced and subsequently made available by each PSB) so that they better reflect the shift from purely linear broadcasting to a mix of linear and on-demand services. PSBs will therefore be allowed to use their on-demand services, as well as their linear services, to meet their productions quotas. Each PSB has a quota for original, regional and independent productions respectively. Ofcom sets the quota levels for original and regional productions for each PSB, while the secretary of state sets the quotas for independent productions in secondary legislation. Ofcom has published a statement confirming its approach to implementing the changes to the regulatory framework governing productions quotas for PSBs and setting out the revised quota levels for PSBs. The government has made two statutory instruments to bring the changes into effect. See this Regulatory Outlook for more details.

Listed events regime 

The updated listed events regime under the Media Act is expected to come into force in early 2026. Ofcom's revised listed events code, reflecting the changes introduced by the Media Act, together with final regulations defining certain terms used in the regime (such as "live coverage", "adequate live coverage" and "adequate alternative coverage"), on which the regulator has consulted, are awaited.

Video-on-Demand (VoD) services regime

In early 2026, the secretary of state is expected to designate UK on‑demand programme services (ODPS) and non‑UK ODPS as "Tier 1" services under the Media Act's VoD regime, following Ofcom's report on the operation of the ODPS market (see this Regulatory Outlook). Tier 1 services will be required to comply with new stringent content and accessibility obligations.

Ofcom is also expected to consult on the VoD code and guidance early this year and publish its final statement towards mid-2026.

Availability and prominence regime

Under the new online availability and prominence regime introduced by the Media Act, connected TV platforms (referred to as "television selection services" (TSS)) designated by the secretary of state will be required to ensure that PSB TV apps designated by Ofcom, as well as their public service content, are available, prominent and easily accessible.

Following Ofcom's final report to the secretary of state setting out its recommendations on the designation of TSS, the secretary of state is expected to designate the relevant connected TV platforms in early 2026. Ofcom also intends to consult this year on a draft code of practice setting out how designated platform providers can comply with their new prominence and accessibility duties and guidance explaining how those platform providers and PSBs may agree terms that are consistent with the requirements of the Media Act.

See Ofcom's Media Act implementation timeline for more information.

EU simplification and a path to the Digital Fairness Act

In November 2025, the European Commission published its Digital Omnibus Regulation proposal, as part of its digital simplification package. The proposals include changes to the EU General Data Protection Regulation and other data legislation as well as amendments to the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (see AI and Data sections).

The Commission has opened a call for evidence and a consultation, closing on 11 March 2026, on a "digital fitness check". It is seeking to understand how EU digital rules interact and stress-test their efficiency and effectiveness. It intends to complete the evaluation in the first quarter of 2027, with further consultations through 2026 on specific issues and the interplay between certain rules that have simplification potential, especially in relation to SMEs.

The Digital Fairness Act is also expected to have a simplification focus – the consultation on the Act sought views on reducing market fragmentation and legal uncertainty, as well as simplification in relation to, for example, certain consumer information requirements in repeated transactions with the same trader (for example, in-app purchases) and the consumer's right of withdrawal in respect of certain subscription services.

See also Consumer law section for information on the UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 and the Competition and Markets Authority's priorities, and more details on the Digital Fairness Act.