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The Media Act 2024 (the Act) received royal assent on 24 May 2024. The Act increases the regulation of Video-on-Demand services (VOD). Many VOD services are not regulated by Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code (the Code) which determines standards for harmful, offensive material. The Act brings mainstream VOD services under the Code's rules concerning harmful content and impartiality. Non-UK based VOD services are not currently regulated by Ofcom and may now be designated as “Tier 1” in regulations yet to be published. Tier 1 mainstream VODs will comply with similar rules for...

In May 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s independent regulator of the financial services industry, announced that it had brought charges against a group of reality TV stars and social media influencers for promoting unauthorised investment schemes. This case marks the first prosecution by the FCA against individuals described by the neologism "finfluencer", highlighting the growing intersection between social media influence and financial regulations. The accused, including prominent figures from popular shows like Love Island and The Only Way is Essex, have...

An Ofcom investigation today concluded that "People’s Forum: The Prime Minister" (the People’s Forum) broadcast on 12 February 2024 by GB News breached broadcasting due impartiality rules. The determination was considered in the context of serious and repeated breaches of Ofcom's impartiality rules, and as a consequence the regulator is considering a statutory sanction against GB News. Ofcom received 547 complaints about the People’s Forum which is a live, hour-long current affairs programme. The episode featured the prime minister, Rishi Sunak,...

On 1 May 2024, Ofcom announced that it had opened an investigation into Fenix International Limited, in its capacity as provider of the video-sharing platform (VSP) OnlyFans. The goal of the investigation is to determine whether OnlyFans is doing enough to prevent children from accessing pornography on the platform. OnlyFans, a VSP under the jurisdiction of Ofcom allows content creators to share videos with their communities. While it is open to all types of creators, it is widely used by adult-content creators, leading to a large proportion of the content available on the platform to be of pornographic...

Ofcom determined five GB News programmes, namely two episodes of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s (a Conservative Member of the United Kingdom Parliament) State of the Nation, two of Friday Morning with Esther and Phil and an episode of Saturday Morning with Esther and Phil, broadcast between 9th May and 23^rd June 2023, breached due impartiality rules. The five programmes breached Rules 5.1 and 5.3 of the Broadcasting Code. Esther McVey is also a Conservative Member of the United Kingdom Parliament.   Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code requires that news, in whatever form, be presented...