Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle people who commit fraud by developing fake romantic relationships on (a) Tiktok and (b) other steaming platforms and manipulate victims into transferring large sums of money.

The Online Safety Act (OSA) was passed in November 2023 and requires all in-scope platforms to tackle fraud originating on their platforms. Fraud is included in the Act as an illegal harm, meaning in-scope companies must take proactive measures to stop fraudulent content appearing on the platform, and remove fraudulent material quickly when they become aware of it. In addition, the Act's Additional Duties for Categorised Services will require the largest companies to provides features for users to verify users on their platforms, and interact with other verified accounts.

Ofcom, acting as the independent regulator, will have the power to levy significant fines on companies who they deem are not doing enough to tackle fraud on their platforms. As of 17 March 2025, Ofcom's illegal harm duties are now in force, and the regulator will now start assessing platforms' compliance with their new obligations under the Act, and will launch enforcement action where they uncover concerns.