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Research and Policy Seminar: The Future of the Online Safety Act 2023

Call for Papers

Friday, 6 June 2025

Hybrid format: in-person at University of Sussex, Brighton, UK and online

The Sussex Centre for Law and Technology invites you to a one-day hybrid seminar to explore critical questions surrounding the Online Safety Act 2023. The Online Safety Act is one of the most important legal developments in the field of law and technology in the past ten years, imposing significant new duties on platforms and search engines. The legislation is progressively being rolled out, with the first codes of practice being laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State in December 2024.

The year 2025 is considered crucial for OSA implementation (Ofcom, 2024). With a new Labour government, there is a renewed focus on reviewing, progressing, and innovating within the OSA framework. This presents a unique opportunity to assess the legislation and explore avenues for improvement.

This seminar will provide a forum for academics, practitioners, civil society and policymakers to share insights, present research, and foster collaborations that will contribute to ongoing policy discussion concerning the Act’s implementation, application, and potential amendments.

Submission Guidelines

We invite academics (including postgraduate researchers), practitioners, and policy researchers to submit papers on any aspect of the Online Safety Act. While we welcome research on any OSA-related topics, we have a particular interest in the following themes:

• the concept of "duty of care”,
• new criminal offences and surveillance measures, and
• impact on journalists and media outlets.

We do not require finished manuscripts and encourage presentation of works in progress. Please submit your application (in Word doc or PDF format) to Dr Jessica Shurson at j.shurson@sussex.ac.uk by 25 March 2025. Your application should include:

• Abstract (300-word limit)
• A short bio (50-100 words) for each author
• Complete contact information for the corresponding author
• Whether you will participate in person or online

We aim to notify participants of acceptance by mid-April. Registration details will be available after the call for papers is closed. There will be no registration fee for this seminar thanks to generous funding from our sponsors. This seminar is jointly funded through the British and Irish Law Education and Technology Association (BILETA) Research Seminar Awards and the University of Sussex Higher Education Innovation Fund.

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