UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has published guidelines on how tech firms can comply with the long-awaited legislation and protect children from coming into contact with harmful content online.

The guidance is part of the first set of draft codes of practice under the OSA. This one focuses on how user-to-user (U2U) services – including social media platforms, online games and search engines – will be expected to respond to different types of illegal content. 

OSA has been described as a “landmark” legislation, aimed at preventing the spread of child sexual abuse material, terrorism content and fraud. According to Ofcom, its first priority will be protecting children.

The codes recommend that platforms avoid presenting children with lists of suggested friends or allowing children to appear in other users’ connection lists. It also proposes that accounts outside a child’s connection list should be unable to send them direct messages and to hide children's...