Distributed Web Platforms and Online Safety

The Distributed Web (dWeb) is a growing set of protocols, that services are built on. It removes single siloed companies from managing and controlling services. These platforms can be considered higher risk due to challenges in ownership and content moderation and ergo delivering safer outcomes for people. The work will produce a report on the distributed markets (with reference to Ofcom's remit, in the forthcoming Online Safety Bill). It will provide an overview of these services, how they technically work, and overview of the different approaches to online safety employed by these services, an assessment of the potential future of these services, an analysis on the potential harms and benefits, and an analysis on the potential implications for Ofcom.