Introduction
Ofcom is a public corporation accountable to the UK Parliament. It is the UK’s regulator for communications services. It regulates the UK’s broadband, home phone and mobile services, TV, radio and video on demand services, oversees the universal postal service and looks after the airwaves used by wireless devices such as cordless phones, walkie-talkies and even some car keys and doorbells.
With the introduction of the Online Safety Act (“the Act”) in 2023, Ofcom became the regulator for online safety. The aim is that Ofcom will become the online regulator not only in the UK but globally.
The Act gives Ofcom the powers they need to take appropriate action against all companies in scope, no matter where they are based, where services have relevant links with the UK. This means services with a significant number of UK users or where UK users are a target market, as well as other services which have in-scope content that presents a risk of significant harm to people in the UK.Online Safety Act: explainer, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, UK Government, 24 April 2025
What are Super-Complaints?
A super-complaint is a formal mechanism established under the Online Safety Act that allows designated organisations to raise concerns about systemic issues affecting users of regulated online services. Unlike individual complaints, super-complaints focus on broad, emerging trends or widespread problems across multiple platforms, rather than isolated incidents.
Eligible entities, such as consumer protection bodies or organisations representing users, can submit these complaints to trigger a specific regulatory response from Ofcom. The super-complaints regime is designed to complement Ofcom’s own research and horizon scanning, a forward-looking assessment of emerging risks and trends in digital services.
“The super-complaints regime, in line with the Act and recent Government regulations … will enable eligible entities to raise systemic issues that arise across services or, in exceptional circumstances, on one service, to our attention. We expect to consult on draft guidance for potential super-complainants in September 2025 and publish our final guidance in early 2026,” Ofcom’s roadmap to regulation of “online safety” states.
From November 2023 to 11 January 2024, the Government ran a public consultation on the eligible entity criteria and procedure for super-complaints. The Government’s response to the consultation was published on 9 June 2025; the Ministerial Foreword by Baroness Maggie Jones stated:
The objective of the super-complaints regime is to ensure that eligible entities can make complaints to Ofcom, as regulator, to make them aware of existing or emerging online harms. This will also support Ofcom’s horizon scanning function, supporting Ofcom in taking an agile approach to regulating online harms.
Once approved by both Houses of Parliament, the super-complaints regime will come into force on 31 December 2025.Ministerial Foreword, Consultation Outcome: Super-complaints eligible entity criteria and procedural requirements: government response, UK Government, 9 June 2025
Hellbound and Down 