Ofcom fraudulent advertising codes mandate proactive platform monitoring by 2027

The upcoming regulations represent a fundamental shift from reactive moderation to proactive prevention, forcing streaming and social platforms to treat ad fraud with the same rigor as financial crime. By requiring 'know your customer' style checks for advertisers, the UK is setting a high bar for transparency that may conflict with existing programmatic ad workflows. This move aligns with broader European trends like the Digital Services Act but adds specific UK requirements for keyword tracking and account history. As these standards solidify, the industry must watch for Ofcom's separate consultation on proactive detection technology, which will likely dictate the specific AI tools platforms are required to deploy.

Ofcom published its first-edition illegal harms codes of practice on 16 December 2024, four months ahead of the statutory deadline set by Parliament, covering more than 130 priority offences including fraud and financial offences. The codes require every in-scope service to complete illegal harms risk assessments by 16 March 2025, and Ofcom set out more than 40 safety measures for platforms to introduce from that date. The fraud-specific provisions within these initial codes already require platforms to establish dedicated reporting channels for organisations with fraud expertise, allowing trusted flaggers to report known scams in real time. Ofcom's Chief Executive Dame Melanie Dawes confirmed that an additional consultation on further code measures was planned for spring 2025, which would address areas including AI-based detection of illegal content.

The UK government's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology laid the Illegal Content Codes of Practice before Parliament on 17 December 2024, with an explanatory memorandum detailing how the codes fulfil Ofcom's duties under sections 41(1), 41(2), and 41(3) of the Online Safety Act. The categorisation thresholds that determine which platforms fall into Category 1, 2A, or 2B were laid as draft regulations alongside the codes, with Ofcom's register of categorised services expected to be published in summer 2025. This sequencing means platforms will know their specific obligations before the fraudulent advertising codes are finalised, giving them a window to prepare compliance infrastructure.

Ofcom's December 2024 statement outlined that the illegal harms codes are accompanied by seven complementary regulatory documents, including a register of risk, risk profiles, risk assessment guidance, illegal content judgements guidance, and enforcement guidance. The regulator confirmed it would publish final guidance on age assurance in January 2025 and draft guidance on children's access risk assessments in February, establishing a rolling programme of regulatory outputs that will culminate in the fraud-specific advertising codes expected by mid-2027. For platforms in scope, this means the Ofcom Online Safety Act fines will land on top of an already substantial compliance burden rather than in isolation. As UK Online Safety Act enforcement intensifies, platforms are increasingly turning to legal challenges to clarify their operational responsibilities.