Last updated: 21-Jul-2025
Review Cycle: Annually or upon legislative updates
Assessed by: Andy Brice, Director
Service Type: User-to-user technical discussion forum
1. Service Overview
Nature of Content: Technical discussions (e.g. data transformation, programming, data formats, regular expressions).
User Base: Adult professionals. No known child users.
Content Restrictions: No adult content permitted. Strict moderation of off-topic or inappropriate posts.
2. Identification of Illegal Content Risks
a. Priority Illegal Content Categories (per Ofcom guidance)
Forum content is not conducive to:
Terrorism promotion.
Child sexual exploitation or abuse.
Hate speech or incitement to violence.
Intimate image abuse.
Fraud or financial scams.
b. Other Illegal Content
No evidence of illegal activity such as copyright infringement, harassment or defamation.
No algorithmic amplification or recommender systems that could elevate harmful content.
Conclusion: The likelihood of encountering illegal content is negligible.
3. Risk Assessment Summary
Category
Likelihood
Terrorism
Very Low
Child Sexual Exploitation
Very Low
Hate Speech
Very Low
Intimate Image Abuse
Very Low
Fraud/Scams
Very Low
Other Illegal Content
Very Low
4.️ Mitigation Measures
Terms of Use: Clearly prohibit illegal content and outline consequences.
Moderation: Manual review of flagged posts.
Reporting Tools: ‘Flag’ button on all posts. Direct contact with moderators available.
User Controls: Accounts required for participation. Automated spam detection of spam and other unwanted content built into the Discourse platform.
Content Design: Private messaging disabled.
5.️ Record Keeping
Moderation logs retained for 12 months.
Risk assessment reviewed annually or upon major platform changes.
Complaints and resolution records maintained securely.
6. Outcome of Assessment
The forum is not likely to be used to commit or facilitate priority offences, and existing measures are proportionate to the platform’s size and risk profile.
7. Reassessment Protocol
This assessment will be reviewed annually, or earlier if:
The service undergoes significant design or content changes.