Regulation 3 Eligibility criteria - supporting evidence

(1)

Subject to paragraph (3), a complaint must be accompanied by—

(a)

information from the entity to explain how it represents the interests of users of regulated services, or members of the public, or a particular group of such users or members of the public (see regulation 2(2)),

(b)

information from the entity to explain how its composition and the arrangements for its governance and accountability are such that it can be relied upon to act independently from regulated services (see regulation 2(3)),

(c)

information from the entity to explain how it—

(i)

is an expert about an aspect of online safety matters, and

(ii)

routinely contributes significantly to public discussions about such matters (see regulation 2(5)), and

(d)

where a complaint is submitted jointly by more than one entity, information as to which entity is the lead entity.

(2)

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c), OFCOM must treat as irrelevant information about content^f1 that an entity has generated, uploaded or shared on a user-to-user service^f2.

(3)

Where—

(a)

OFCOM have previously determined that an entity is an eligible entity under regulation 8(1) (determination whether an entity is eligible),

(b)

the complaint is submitted before the end of the period of five years beginning with the day OFCOM made that determination, and

(c)

since that determination the entity has not had a complaint rejected on the grounds of regulation 5(1)(a) (the entity is not an eligible entity),

the complaint may be accompanied by the statement described in paragraph (4) instead of the information in paragraph (1)(a) and (b).

(4)

The statement referred to in paragraph (3) is a statement from the entity—

(a)

that there have been no changes to the information the entity previously provided to OFCOM under paragraph (1)(a) and (b), and

(b)

requesting OFCOM apply regulation 8(2) (15-day time-limit for determining eligibility status) to determine whether the entity is still an eligible entity.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: “Content” is defined in section 236(1) of the Online Safety Act 2023.
f2: “User-to-user service” is defined in section 3(1) of the Online Safety Act 2023.