The UK government's controversial Online Safety Bill has finally received Royal Assent and become law, paving the way for the country's communications regulator to start laying out its legislative agenda.

The bill, which will now be known as the Online Safety Act, aims to keep websites and different types of internet-based services free of illegal and harmful material while defending freedom of expression. It applies to search engines; internet services that host user-generated content, such as social media platforms; online forums; some online games; and sites that publish or display pornographic content.

Royal Assent is the formal process by which the King agrees to make a bill into a law. The bill for the Online Safety Act was approved by Parliament in September.

Ofcom, which has been charged with enforcing the act, has said it will now begin the process of publishing its code of practice, publishing a provisional timeline that details when the requirements would start to come into force.

Once the code of practice has been established, companies that do not comply with the rules could be fined up to