Part 4: Other duties of providers of regulated user-to-user services and regulated search services Chapter 3: Terms of service: Transparency, accountability, and freedom of expression Section 71: Duty not to act against users except in accordance with terms of service
This section provides that Category 1 service providers may only remove or restrict access to content, or ban or suspend users, where doing that is consistent with their terms of service or where they face another legal obligation to do so.
	Subsection (1) sets out the duty on Category 1 service providers to have systems and processes designed to ensure they only remove or restrict access to content, or ban or suspend users, where this is consistent with their terms of service.
	Subsection (2) provides that the duty in subsection (1) does not apply to actions taken as a result of providers’ compliance with their illegal content duties and child safety duties. Actions taken to avoid criminal or civil liability are also exempt from the duty in subsection (1).
	Subsection (3) sets out that the duty in subsection (1) also does not apply to the removal or restriction of access to content that constitutes an offence, or against a user who has uploaded, generated or shared content that constitutes an offence. Subsection (1) also does not apply where a service bans or suspends a user responsible for or involved in placing fraudulent advertisements on their service. Subsection (7) defines "offence" and "fraudulent advertisement"’ for the purposes of this section. It also defines "criminal or civil liability".
	Subsection (4) exempts consumer content and terms of service about such content from the duty in subsection (1). Section 74(3) defines consumer content as: (a) all regulated user-generated content that is directly connected with the sale of goods or supply of services by consumers and traders who are users of a service, (b) all regulated user-generated content that amounts to an offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, and (c) any other regulated user-generated content that is covered by those Regulations. Such content is already regulated by the Competition and Markets Authority and other consumer protection bodies. The exclusion avoids regulatory overlap between OFCOM and those bodies, and ensures that the duties in this section do not inadvertently create a barrier for the enforcement of consumer protection legislation.