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‎app/views/complaints/training/definitions.html.erb‎

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<p class="has-font-size-caption has-color-tertiary-600">Last updated 12 March 2026</p>
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<h1 class="is-brand-comp with-subtitle">Online Safety Act</h1>
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<h2 class="subtitle">Definitions</h2>
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<p>
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It is important to understand what each type of content is exactly, so they are defined here. These are definitions
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which we have written: the Act defines each type of content in terms of related criminal offences, which is more
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complex than is necessary to deal with the content, so these descriptions are intended to provide a simple overview.
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</p>
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<h3>Priority Illegal Content</h3>
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<div class="has-font-size-caption">
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Terrorism</h4>
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Terrorism is considered a violent action or threat of action, designed to influence a government or intimidate the
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public and advance a cause. Online terrorism content is any content made available to others online, which can
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encourage or promote terrorism.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Child Sexual Exploitation & Abuse (CSEA)</h4>
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<h5>(a) Grooming</h5>
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Grooming is the process of building a relationship or emotional connection with a child or young person so the
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perpetrator can manipulate, exploit, and abuse them.
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<h5>(b) Image-based Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)</h5>
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Online CSAM includes material depicting sexual activity, or indecent or prohibited imagery of children and can
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take the form of photographic images and videos, as well as non-photographic material, such as drawings and
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animations. Children themselves may generate content that can be considered CSAM, which can cause them harm. UK
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law enforcement refers to this as self-generated indecent imagery (SGII).
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<h5>(c) CSAM URLs</h5>
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This is distinct from child sexual abuse material itself in that the content which is shared <em>links to</em>
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CSAM rather than containing CSAM itself.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Hate</h4>
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Hate offences can be experienced by many people, in particular minorities and other protected groups. The offences
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can be targeted at one or more individuals or wider communities. Online hate content may include threatening or
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abusive words, behaviours, images, and other media. The Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recognise
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hate crime based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and transgender identity.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Harassment, stalking, threats, and abuse</h4>
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The offences of harassment, stalking, threats, and abuse relate to unwanted behaviours that can cause alarm and
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distress to other individuals or put them in fear of violence. A case can involve several types of behaviour,
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which may include violent threats, cyberstalking, or conduct intended to put a person in fear of violence or cause
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serious alarm or distress.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Controlling or coercive behaviour</h4>
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Controlling or coercive behaviour occurs where the victim-survivor and the perpetrator are personally connected,
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the perpetrator repeatedly or continuously engages in behaviour that is controlling or coercive, and this
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behaviour has a serious effect on the victim-survivor, putting them in fear of violence or causing serious alarm
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or distress which has a substantial adverse effect on their usual day-to-day activities.<br/>
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<br/>
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Coercive behaviour can be an act (or a pattern of acts) of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other
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abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten those in intimate or family contexts. Controlling behaviour
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includes a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of
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support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for
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independence, resistance, and escape, and regulating their everyday behaviour.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Intimate image abuse</h4>
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Most commonly, an ‘intimate image’ is a photograph or video where the person or people are depicted engaging or
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participating or are present during a sexual act and/or where their genitals, buttocks, or breasts are exposed or
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covered only with underwear. Intimate image abuse occurs when these intimate images are shared or distributed
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without the consent of the person pictured; or when someone threatens to share or distribute these images or
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videos without consent.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Extreme pornography</h4>
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‘Extreme pornography’ is an umbrella term used in UK law to cover several categories of images which are illegal
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to possess. Although the legislation varies slightly across legal systems in the UK, extreme pornography broadly
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covers images which are produced principally for sexual arousal, and which depict extreme or obscene behaviours.
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Possession involves having ‘custody or control’ over the content. Extreme pornographic content includes realistic
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and explicit depictions of necrophilia, bestiality, acts threatening a person's life, acts that could result in
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serious injury to specific parts of the body, rape, and assault by penetration.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Sexual exploitation of adults</h4>
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Sexual exploitation is the inducement of a commercial sex act generally by means of force, fraud, or coercion.
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Online this frequently falls into two distinct categories: (a) individuals who are coerced or forced into sex
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work, and (b) consenting adult sex workers who are controlled or exploited by another person.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Human trafficking</h4>
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Human trafficking encompasses a wide range of harmful activities. It can involve modern slavery, and victims and
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survivors include adults and children. It is estimated that there were 122,000 people living in modern slavery in
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the UK in 2021. Notable forms of human trafficking where harm can manifest online include sexual exploitation and
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abuse, forced labour, and criminal exploitation such as county lines exportation of illegal drugs.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Unlawful immigration</h4>
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‘Illegal entry’ means an individual entering the United Kingdom in breach of a deportation order, entering without
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permission to remain, or without entry clearance when the individual needs it. A person commits the offence of
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‘unlawful immigration’ if they do an act which facilitates a breach or attempted breach of immigration law by an
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individual who is not a national of the United Kingdom – and where they know or have reasonable cause for
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believing this to be the case. It is usually encouraged by organised crime. Online aspects of unlawful immigration
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could include the sale of counterfeit travel documents such as passports, visas and identification papers, as well
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as the sale of crossings.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Fraud and financial offences</h4>
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Content in this category overlaps strongly with offences related to Proceeds of Crime. Fraud may occur online as
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fraud by impersonation or false representation; purchase, investment, romance, or employment scams, or the
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recruitment of money mules or launderers.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Proceeds of crime</h4>
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‘Proceeds of crime’ is the term used for money or assets gained by criminals during their criminal activity and
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money laundering. Examples of activities which involve the proceeds of crime online include people being recruited
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as money mules to transfer illegally obtained money between bank accounts, discussion between criminals to arrange
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money laundering, and stolen personal information (via other criminal activity) offered for sale which can be used
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to commit or facilitate other types of fraud.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Drugs and psychoactive substances</h4>
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The supply of drugs and psychoactive substances is facilitated online by enabling suppliers to market their
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products and connect with potential buyers. Many of the functionalities of online services that enable suppliers
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of legal products to reach, engage and deal directly or indirectly with customers can also be used by those
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selling illicit substances.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Firearms, knives, and other weapons</h4>
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The firearms, knives, and other weapons offences cover various matters relating to the online sale of a range of
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firearms, knives, and other weapons. In the UK, firearms and certain offensive weapons are classified as restricted
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or prohibited. Prohibited firearms and offensive weapons are subject to the strictest limitations on sale.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Encouraging or assisting suicide</h4>
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This offence takes place when an individual intentionally encourages or assists a person to (attempt to) end their
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life. Content related to suicide is extremely sensitive; while there may be users who post this content to cause
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harm to others, some users may post this content to find supportive communities, to express their own experiences
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as part of a healing process or to attempt to help others. Users posting and engaging with this type of content
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can include those in vulnerable circumstances who are themselves dealing with thoughts of suicide or self-harm,
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as well as those who have recovered or are recovering from mental health challenges.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Foreign interference</h4>
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The new Foreign Interference Offence (FIO) has been designed to tackle malign activity carried out for, or on
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behalf of, or intended to benefit, a foreign power. Prohibited conduct captured by this offence will include where
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there is a misrepresentation of a person’s identity or purpose, or in the presentation of the information, for
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example, through state-backed disinformation campaigns.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Animal cruelty</h4>
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Most acts of cruelty occur offline. The publication online of content relating to or depicting these offline acts
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does not in itself cause the animal unnecessary suffering (or further suffering) and therefore cannot constitute
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an offence under the Animal Welfare Act. However, the existence of online activities that encourage, assist, or
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commit acts of animal cruelty may result in content being made available which may distress a user, or cause them
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to engage in harmful or illegal behaviours and activities themselves.
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<h3>Non-Priority Illegal Content</h3>
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<div class="has-font-size-caption">
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Epilepsy trolling</h4>
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Some individuals with epilepsy may have a physical reaction to online content; they may feel disorientated,
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uncomfortable, or unwell after seeing certain images or patterns. The offence is sharing an image with the
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intention to cause harm to an individual with epilepsy.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Cyberflashing</h4>
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The cyberflashing offence refers to the sending of a photograph or film of genitals, to cause alarm, distress, or
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humiliation, or to obtain sexual gratification. In addition, cyberflashing can form part of a pattern of harmful
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behaviour that includes other harms such as cyberstalking, harassment, and/or controlling or coercive behaviour.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Encouraging or assisting serious self-harm</h4>
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This offence takes place when an individual intentionally encourages or assists a person to carry out serious
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self-harm. Posting of content that amounts to the offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm is often
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found in proximity to posting of other types of content related to self-harm that do not amount to the offence.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>False communications</h4>
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A person commits the false communications offence if they send a message, with no reasonable excuse to send it,
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that they know to be false and intend for that message to cause harm.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Obscene content showing torture of humans and animals</h4>
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This is a non-priority offence covering depictions of cruelty which are so serious as to be obscene, but which may
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not amount to another priority offence (such as terrorism or animal cruelty offences). This offence is important
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because for pre-recorded content some illegal animal cruelty and human torture content may not necessarily amount
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to a priority offence.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Threatening communications</h4>
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A person commits the threatening communications offence if they send a message that conveys a threat of death or
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serious harm and, at the time of sending it, the sender intended the individual encountering the message to fear
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that the threat would be carried out, or was reckless as to whether the individual encountering the message would
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fear that the threat would be carried out.
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<h3>Service-specific illegal content risks</h3>
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<p>
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Our risk assessment has also identified some additional types of illegal content based on the platform's risk profile.
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</p>
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<div class="has-font-size-caption">
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>De-anonymisation (“doxxing”)</h4>
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De-anonymisation, known online as “doxxing”, is the posting of a user’s personal information by another user
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without permission. This may include a user’s name, home or work address, email address, telephone number,
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information about protected characteristics such as sexual orientation, or other personally-identifiable
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information. This is often done with the intent to humiliate the victim, but in more serious cases may be done
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with the intention to expose the victim to physical harm.
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="widget">
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<div class="widget--body">
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<h4>Copyright infringement</h4>
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Copyright infringement may occur online when content is researched or used from elsewhere as part of
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user-generated content, in violation of the copyright on that content and not otherwise permitted by fair dealing
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exceptions. It is also likely that the use of generative AI models is a strong risk factor for copyright
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infringements, as these models often fail to appropriately reference their sources for users to consider whether a
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copyright exists.
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="has-text-align-right">
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<%= link_to osa_training_path('handling') do %>
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<strong>Next</strong><br/>
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Handling Illegal Content &raquo;
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<% end %>
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</div>

‎app/views/complaints/training/home.html.erb‎

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non-priority illegal content.
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</p>
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<% end %>
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<%= link_to osa_training_path('overview'), class: 'module-widget' do %>
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<%= link_to osa_training_path('definitions'), class: 'module-widget' do %>
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<h4>Definitions</h4>
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<p class="has-font-size-small">
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Definitions of all the types of illegal content which apply to us.
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</p>
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<% end %>
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<%= link_to osa_training_path('overview'), class: 'module-widget' do %>
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<%= link_to osa_training_path('handling'), class: 'module-widget' do %>
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<h4>Handling Illegal Content</h4>
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<p class="has-font-size-small">
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Your responsibilities and the steps you need to take in response to identifying potentially illegal content.
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</p>
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<% end %>
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<%= link_to osa_training_path('overview'), class: 'module-widget' do %>
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<%= link_to osa_training_path('higher-risk'), class: 'module-widget' do %>
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<h4>Higher-Risk Content</h4>
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<p class="has-font-size-small">
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Some types of content are more likely to occur in our communities than others. More detail on those here.
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</p>
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<% end %>
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<%= link_to osa_training_path('overview'), class: 'module-widget' do %>
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<%= link_to osa_training_path('conclusion'), class: 'module-widget' do %>
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<h4>Conclusion</h4>
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<p class="has-font-size-small">
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Thank you for taking the time to complete this training. Mark it as complete here and come back here if you need

‎app/views/complaints/training/illegal-content.html.erb‎

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<p class="has-font-size-caption has-color-tertiary-600">Last updated 12 March 2026</p>
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<h1 class="is-brand-comp with-subtitle">Online Safety Act</h1>
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<h2 class="subtitle">Priority & Non-Priority Illegal Content</h2>
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<p>
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The Act sets out 17 types of priority illegal content, and a number of types of non-priority illegal content. We have
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carried out a risk assessment for all types of priority illegal content, and applicable types of non-priority illegal
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content, which details the likelihood and impact of each type of content on our platform specifically.
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</p>
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<div class="has-text-align-right">
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<%= link_to osa_training_path('definitions') do %>
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<strong>Next</strong><br/>
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Definitions &raquo;
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<% end %>
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</div>

‎app/views/complaints/training/overview.html.erb‎

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<p class="has-font-size-smaller has-color-tertiary-600">Last updated 12 March 2026</p>
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<p class="has-font-size-caption has-color-tertiary-600">Last updated 12 March 2026</p>
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<h1 class="is-brand-comp with-subtitle">Online Safety Act</h1>
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<h2 class="subtitle">Overview</h2>

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