Communications Act 2003

Provisions of the act

• Obtaining access to the Internet with no intention to pay for the service was made a criminal offence.
• Sending a malicious communication using social media was made a criminal offence.
• The Independent Television Commission, Radio Authority, Office of Telecommunications, and Radiocommunications Agency were merged into Ofcom.
• The telecommunications licensing regime was replaced by a general authorisation for companies to provide telecommunications services subject to general conditions of entitlement, while BT retained its universal service obligation.
• It was declared an offence to "persistently make use of a public electronic communications network for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety". Ofcom subsequently developed policies to reduce the number of silent telephone calls.
• The public service remit for Channel 4 was revised.
• Broadcasters were required to make a proportion of television programmes outside the London area.
• Restrictions on ITV company ownership were lifted, aside from "public interest" test that was added as an amendment in the House of Lords. The result was the formation of a single entity ITV plc controlling all of the ITV franchises in England and Wales in February 2004.
• The limit on the proportion of ITN that any ITV operating company could own was abolished.
• Broadcasters were required to carry a "suitable quantity and range of programmes" dealing with religion and other beliefs, as part of their public service broadcasting.
• Political advertising on television or radio was prohibited.
• Ofcom given the responsibility to 'promote' media literacy.
• The Gaelic Media Service was created to decide on the future development of Gaelic broadcasting services.
• Community radio stations were recognised as a distinct third tier of radio alongside BBC Radio and commercial radio.
• The authority for the BBC to collect the licence fee was set out.
• Provision was made for the requirements for blind and deaf television viewers. This has subsequently included sign language, subtitles and audio description.
• The Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice was established as the regulatory body ensuring that advertising on radio and television is not misleading, harmful, offensive, or beyond the boundaries of taste and decency.

  Wi-Fi

Malicious communications

• whether messages were aggravated by references to race, religion or other minorities, and whether they breached existing rules to counter harassment or stalking; and
• the age and maturity of any wrongdoer should be taken into account and given great weight.

• when the author of the message had "expressed genuine remorse";
• when "swift and effective action... to remove the communication" was taken; or
• when messages were not intended for a wide audience.

  Amendments to the act

• Regulations amended the act in 2009 and 2010, making Ofcom the co-regulator for video on demand in the UK, along with ATVOD and the Advertising Standards Authority.
• The Digital Economy Act 2010 amended the Communications Act 2003, giving Ofcom the responsibility of enforcing regulations concerning Internet copyright breaches.
• The Postal Services Act 2011 allowed Ofcom to take over regulatory responsibility for the Royal Mail from the Postal Services Commission.
• The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 amended the Communications Act 2003 to set out statutory and legal obligations for media distributors of on-demand content. The regulations define the content that can legally be distributed under an R18 certificate and make it a criminal offence to not adequately restrict access to such content to those aged over 18.

  Notable prosecutions

• 2012: Paul Chambers made a joke on Twitter in response to Robin Hood Airport cancelling flights. He said that unless the facility resolved the problem within a week, he would be "blowing the airport sky high". After an off-duty manager discovered the post, Chambers was arrested by anti-terror police. He was found guilty, lost his job and was ordered to pay a £385 fine and £600 in costs.However, after a strong public outcry and three appeals, the case was eventually overturned.
• 2014: A Lincolnshire man was charged with being grossly offensive after posting a photograph of a policeman on social media, with two phalluses drawn on it. The offending picture was passed on to Lincolnshire Police, who arrested the 20-year-old. He was ordered to pay £400 in compensation to the officer in question, in addition to £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
• 2017: R v Mwaikambo where a 43-year-old man posted one video and seven pictures of a victim of the Grenfell Towers tragedy to his Facebook account. Notable in this case was the rapidity of conviction: the fire occurred on 14 June and the case was heard but two days later. Mwaikambo was imprisoned by Ikram J for a total of three months.
• 2018: Mark Meechan, a YouTube comedian and social commentator, was convicted under the Communications Act in 2018. He had made a video demonstrating how he had trained his girlfriend's dog to perform a Nazi salute upon hearing the phrase "Sieg Heil" and to respond to being asked if he wanted to "gas the Jews". Even though Meechan insisted that he was not actually racist and that it was a joke intended to annoy his girlfriend, the court found him guilty of being "grossly offensive" on 20 March. He was fined £800 at Airdrie Sheriff Court on 23 April 2018.
• 2018: A Merseyside woman was convicted under the Communications Act for posting rap lyrics on Instagram which were deemed 'racist', due to them including racially-charged language. Chelsea Russell had used lyrics from a Snap Dogg song as a tribute to a boy who died in a road accident. She was sentenced to an eight week community order, along with an eight-week curfew. She was also ordered to pay costs of £500 and an £85 victim surcharge. Her conviction was overturned on appeal in February 2019.