Protecting children online: UK regulators call for platforms to do more

On 21 May, Ofcom published a statement and an update report on how major platforms are protecting children online in the UK. This latest report follows the letters Ofcom sent to major platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, Snap, TikTok and YouTube) in March, requiring them to "urgently strengthen protections for children online" and asking them to detail the actions they would take. These latest publications mark Ofcom’s promised public response to those submissions. With the Government’s major social media consultation now closed and a ban on under-16s potentially on the horizon, it is understandable that Ofcom is reflecting public (and political) opinion by focusing in on how major platforms approach children’s safety. Some key takeaways from the report and statement include: 

Scrutiny of content feeds intensifies 

Ofcom has said it is deeply concerned by the industry response on content feeds and has committed to drive change “by all means necessary” including through enforcement action. The regulator’s engagement has already driven concrete changes to some platforms’ approaches, e.g. Meta has pledged to extend some ‘sensitive content’ control protections across more of its service (albeit not all such protections). Ofcom reports that TikTok and YouTube haven’t committed “to any significant changes to reduce harmful content being served to children". 

Having already issued legally binding requests to Meta, TikTok and YouTube on their approach to protecting children from harmful content, Ofcom is now exploring using new inspection powers under the Online Safety Act to allow platforms to be subjected to a form of independent audit. This would potentially allow Ofcom "to issue remote inspection notices to observe how services' content detection, moderation systems, algorithms and age-checks are working in real time." In scope platforms should be aware of the potential for Ofcom to start taking this form of intrusive action.

Age assurance updates 

None of the platforms with a minimum age of 13 have convinced Ofcom "that they are currently enforcing them effectively". Ofcom quotes new research that shows that 84% of children aged 8–12 are still using one of YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, despite them having a minimum age of 13 (Ofcom has also published a significant new body of research into how children spend their time online). 

Despite these concerns, Ofcom has acknowledged that “current online safety laws do not explicitly require services to keep underage children off their platforms by using robust age checks” - a point Ofcom has flagged to Government. As things stand, any enforcement action for age assurance failings would need to come from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under data protection law. Ofcom and the ICO have been collaborating closely on age assurance (as discussed in our blog here), and the ICO has also published an update statement on its age assurance work. The ICO statement states that the ICO also has concerns about platforms’ limited progress on age assurance, with the regulator now considering next steps. The ICO purports to be ready to use its full range of regulatory powers including formal investigations and sanctions. 

Commitments beyond the law 

Ofcom reports that five of the six platforms have committed to notify the regulator “whenever they update their risk assessments before making significant changes to their services – going above and beyond their duties under the Online Safety Act." These are Ofcom’s words and represent an interesting acknowledgement that the law as written is being gold-plated by the regulator’s approach. 

Commentary 

These publications confirm that Ofcom is now focusing on driving change to how major platforms protect children – even to the extent that it is calling on them to act in ways that go beyond the letter of the law. The coordinated cross-referring statements from Ofcom and the ICO reemphasise that the UK online safety regime isn’t the only legal regime that platforms need to contend with – even in the UK. This is a fast moving complex landscape where regulators’ stances are evolving as well as the law. In our latest briefing, Protecting children online: how is the law changing, and where will it go?, we consider what this really means for organisations in practice.