OpenLegislation

Section 66K Section 66I: application to internet service providersF1

England and Wales

(1)

An internet service provider does not commit an offence under section 66I by—

(a)

providing access to a communication network, or

(b)

transmitting, in a communication network, information provided by a user, if the provider does not—

(i)

initiate the transmission,

(ii)

select the recipient of the transmission, or

(iii)

select or modify the information contained in the transmission.

(2)

The references in subsection (1) to providing access to, or transmitting information in, a communication network include storing the information transmitted so far as the storage—

(a)

is automatic, intermediate and transient,

(b)

is solely for the purpose of carrying out the transmission in the network, and

(c)

is for no longer than is reasonably necessary for the transmission.

(3)

An internet service provider does not commit an offence under section 66I by storing information provided by a user for transmission in a communication network if—

(a)

the storage of the information—

(i)

is automatic, intermediate and temporary, and

(ii)

is solely for the purpose of making more efficient the onward transmission of the information to other users at their request, and

(b)

the internet service provider—

(i)

does not modify the information,

(ii)

complies with any conditions attached to having access to the information, and

(iii)

on knowing of a matter within subsection (4), promptly removes the information or disables access to it.

(4)

The matters within this subsection are that—

(a)

the information at the initial source of the transmission has been removed from the network,

(b)

access to it has been disabled, or

(c)

a court or administrative authority has ordered the removal from the network of, or the disablement of access to, the information.

(5)

An internet service provider does not commit an offence under section 66I by storing information provided by a user who is not acting under the authority or control of the provider if—

(a)

when the information was provided the provider did not know that it was, or contained, a generator of purported intimate images, and

(b)

on knowing that the information was, or contained, a generator of purported intimate images, the provider promptly removed the information or disabled access to it.

(6)

In this section—

  • “generator of purported intimate images” has the same meaning as in section 66I;

  • “internet service provider” means a provider of—

    1. (a)

      a service that is made available by means of the internet, or

    2. (b)

      a service that provides access to the internet;

  • “user”, in relation to an internet service provider, means a user of a service provided by the internet service provider.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1

Ss. 66I-66L inserted (29.6.2026) by Crime and Policing Act 2026 (c. 20), ss. 99(2), 255(1); S.I. 2026/689, reg. 2(1)(i)