British media and social media platforms have been given tough advice today by regulators and media outlets. Companies are being urged to strengthen their child protection mechanisms, with current age-rating safeguards deemed inadequate.
Britain is considering tougher restrictions on children’s access to social media, with the government considering banning under-16s from such platforms – mirroring a move by Australia.
The Office of Communications (Ofcom) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said they were increasingly concerned about algorithmic data feeds that expose children to harmful or addictive content.
“These online services are notorious for failing to put child safety at the heart of their products,” said Melanie Dawes, chief executive of Ofcom.
“This must now change quickly, or Ofcom will act,” she warned.
In the latest phase of the UK’s Internet Safety Act, Ofcom has called on Facebook and Instagram – both owned by Meta – as well as Roblox, Snapchat, ByteDance’s TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube to set out by April 30 how they will tighten age checks, limit contact between strangers and children, make data streams safer and stop testing new products on minors.
The ICO has separately issued an open letter to the same platforms, calling on them to adopt “modern, viable” age-verification tools to prevent under-13s from accessing services not designed for them.
“We now have modern technology at your fingertips, so there is no excuse,” said Paul Arnold, the ICO’s chief executive.
A Meta spokesperson said the company already uses AI-powered age detection and assessment tools and places teens in accounts with built-in protections. The spokesperson added that age verification should be done “centrally at the app store level” so that families don’t have to provide personal information multiple times. A
YouTube spokesperson said the platform offers age-appropriate experiences and was “surprised to see Ofcom move away from a risk-based approach,” urging the regulator to focus on “high-risk services” that don’t comply with the law.
Roblox, Snapchat and TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ofcom can fine companies up to 10% of their global revenue, while the ICO can impose fines of up to 4% of a company's global annual turnover.
The privacy watchdog last month fined Reddit almost £14.5m for illegally processing children's data and failing to introduce meaningful age checks, according to the AP.
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