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Ofcom announces new rules to keep children safe online Ofcom announces new rules to force tech firms to keep children safe online
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Tech firms will be legally required to block children’s access to harmful content or face hefty fines Companies will be legally required to block children’s access to harmful content or face hefty fines
Social media and other internet platforms will be legally required to block children’s access to harmful content from July or face large fines, Ofcom has announced.Social media and other internet platforms will be legally required to block children’s access to harmful content from July or face large fines, Ofcom has announced.
The UK regulator has published the final version of its ”children’s codes” under the Online Safety Act, setting out what sites must do to follow the law and protect children online. Tech firms will have to apply the measures by 25 July or risk fines – and in extreme cases being shut down – under the UK’s Online Safety Act.
Under the codes, any site that hosts pornography, or content encouraging self-harm, suicide or eating disorders must have robust age verification tools in place in order to protect children from accessing that content. The communications watchdog published more than 40 measures on Monday covering sites and apps used by children, ranging from social media to search and gaming.
In addition, platforms will be required to configure their algorithms to filter out harmful content from children’s feeds and recommendations, ensuring they are not sent down a rabbit hole of harmful content. Under the measures, the “riskiest” services, which include big social media platforms, must use “highly effective” age checks to identify under-18 users; algorithms, which recommend content to users, must filter out harmful material; all sites and apps must have procedures for taking down dangerous content quickly; and children must have a “straightforward” way to report content.
However, the codes are “risk adverse” and leave too much control in the hands of tech platforms, the father of Molly Russell has warned. Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s chief executive, said the changes were a “reset” for children online and that companies failing to act would face enforcement.
“I am dismayed by the lack of ambition in today’s codes. Instead of moving fast to fix things, the painful reality is that Ofcom’s measures will fail to prevent more young deaths like my daughter Molly’s,” said Ian Russell. “They will mean safer social media feeds with less harmful and dangerous content, protections from being contacted by strangers and effective age checks on adult content,” she said.
The codes require sites to have easier reporting and complaints systems in place to help users more quickly flag harmful content, and sites themselves will be expected to respond remove harmful content quickly. The measures were published as the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, said he was considering a social media curfew for children after TikTok’s introduction of a feature that encourages under-16s to switch off the app after 10pm.
The Ofcom chief executive, Melanie Dawes, said: “These changes are a reset for children online. They will mean safer social media feeds with less harmful and dangerous content, protections from being contacted by strangers and effective age checks on adult content. Kyle told the Telegraph he was “watching very carefully” the impact of the wind-down feature.
“Ofcom has been tasked with bringing about a safer generation of children online, and if companies fail to act they will face enforcement.” “These are things I am looking at. I’m not going to act on something that will have a profound impact on every single child in the country without making sure that the evidence supports it – but I am investing in [researching] the evidence,” he said.
Russell, chair of the Molly Rose Foundation, set up in his daughter’s name after she ended her life aged 14, in 2017, after viewing harmful content on social media, said Ofcom’s codes would not protect young people. Kyle added on Thursday that the new Ofcom codes should be a “watershed moment” that turned the tide on “toxic experiences on these platforms”.
“Ofcom’s risk adverse approach is a bitter pill for bereaved parents to swallow. Their overly cautious codes put the bottom line of reckless tech companies ahead of tackling preventable harm. “Growing up in the digital age should mean children can reap the immense benefits of the online world safely, but in recent years too many young people have been exposed to lawless, poisonous environments online which we know can lead to real and sometimes fatal consequences. This cannot continue,” he added.
“We lose at least one young life to tech-related suicide every single week in the UK which is why today’s sticking plaster approach cannot be allowed to stand. Online platforms will be required to suppress the spread of harmful content, such as violent, hateful or abusive material and online bullying. More seriously harmful content, including that relating to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, will need to be kept off children’s feeds entirely, as will pornography.
“A speedy remedy is within reach if the prime minister personally intervenes to fix this broken system. Less than one in 10 parents think Ofcom is doing enough and Sir Keir Starmer must commit without delay to strengthen online safety legislation.” Sign up to First Edition
The technology secretary, Peter Kyle, said Ofcom’s children’s codes were a “watershed moment” after the rise of “lawless, poisonous environments” online. Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters
“Growing up in the digital age should mean children can reap the immense benefits of the online world safely but in recent years too many young people have been exposed to lawless, poisonous environments online which we know can lead to real and sometimes fatal consequences. This cannot continue,” he added. after newsletter promotion
The online safety campaigner Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter, Molly, ended her life after viewing harmful content online, said the codes were “overly cautious” and put tech company profit ahead of tackling harmful content.
Russell’s Molly Rose Foundation charity argues the codes do not go far enough to moderate suicide and self-harm content as well as blocking dangerous online challenges.
He said: “I am dismayed by the lack of ambition in today’s codes. Instead of moving fast to fix things, the painful reality is that Ofcom’s measures will fail to prevent more young deaths like my daughter Molly’s.”