London Deputy Managing Partner Terry Green was quoted in two Lexology Pro articles about the UK government's latest efforts to enhance online safety. Terry provided insights on the government’s pledge to extend the scope of the Online Safety Act (OSA) to close an enforcement gap related to artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots. Currently, the OSA only covers content created by AI chatbots in specific circumstances, which allowed standalone AI tools, such as X's Grok, to escape regulatory oversight. The government's amendments aim to ensure AI chatbot services that might otherwise sit outside the OSA are still required to protect users against illegal content.
On this, Terry noted that the OSA currently has a gap where "offline AI tools, particularly generative AI and AI chatbots that do not allow shareable content and intended individual offline use, can pose a serious risk of making harmful content available to users." He further underscored the need for the government "to rethink its approach on the need for AI-specific legislation, much like the EU AI Act, which explicitly lists banned practices for AI systems."
As the fallout over X’s Grok continues, another Lexology Pro piece discussed the government's plans to force platforms to remove nonconsensual intimate and abusive images within 48 hours of a report. Terry and Intellectual Property Associate Larry Wong noted that this timeframe may prove challenging for smaller platforms without enough resources to process removals that quickly. However, the "silver lining" is that it would encourage platforms to use proactive technology to detect harmful content, which will "hopefully set a gold standard for international platforms" to remove content as a matter of platform policy, Terry and Larry said. They added that the changes were tagged onto the Crime and Policing Bill that will enter the parliamentary report stage next week, likely offering the fastest route to implement these changes.
"UK set to close Online Safety Act chatbot enforcement gap," Lexology Pro, February 16, 2026
"UK to force platforms to remove sexual images within 48 hours," Lexology Pro, February 19, 2026
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