The chief executive of Ofcom has warned social media firms that disciplinary action including hefty fines will soon be enforceable via the Online Safety Act.

Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live on Thursday, Ofcom CEO Dame Melanie Dawes said enforcement of the Online Safety Act – a law passed last year to prevent the spread of harmful social media content – will be coming in the Spring.

“By the end of this year we’ll be sending a really important part of our work to the government and what that will do is start the clock on the action that the companies are going to need to take,” Dawes said.

Dawes said that from Spring 2025, social media companies will be forced to pay fines of up to 10% of their global revenue if proper safeguards are not implemented.

In extreme cases, Dawes said Ofcom will also be able to completely take down social media companies that pose serious risks to online safety.

“We are very clear that the first step that any responsible company needs to take, is to actually assess risks that they’ve never assessed before.

“If we don’t think they’ve done that job well enough, we can take enforcement action, simply against that failure.”

Dawes said: “We know that some of them are preparing but we are expecting very significant changes.”

The Ofcom chief said the regulator is working closely with a small handful of social media companies, in particular, firms of a “small and risky” size as well as the biggest players.

The Online Safety Act became British law in October 2023, however, Ofcom has so far been unable to enforce its terms.

This means it was unable to sanction social media firms such as X and Meta over their role in inciting far-right riots across the UK.

Hanna Basha, a partner at the law firm Payne Hicks Beach said: “Ofcom’s measures to protect children under the Online Safety Act are crucial.  Without serious penalties for non-compliance, these measures won’t be effective.

“It is good to see Dame Melanie Dawes of Ofcom making it clear that there will be new responsibilities for social media companies, including fines, and that Ofcom will take non-compliance seriously.”