Ofcom announces new rules for tech firms to protect children online

Social media platforms and websites will be legally required to protect children from accessing harmful content online or risk facing fines, the communications watchdog has said.

Ofcom has published new regulations – known as the Children’s Codes- that will require tech firms to instate age verification checks and change algorithm rcommendations to continue operating in the UK.

Sites must adhere to the standards by 25 July. Any site which hosts pornography, or content which encourages self-harm, suicide or eating disorders must have robust age checks in place to protect children from accessing that content.

Ofcom boss Dame Melanie Dawes says the codes will create “safer social media feeds”.

Some critics however say the restrictions don’t go far enough, calling it a “bitter pill for bereaved parents to swallow”.

Ian Russell, Chair of the Molly Rose Foundation, which was set up in honour of his daughter who took her own life aged 14, said he was “dismayed by the lack of ambition” in the codes.

But Prof Victoria Baines, a former safety officer at Facebook told the BBC it is “a step in the right direction”.

Talking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme on Thursday, she said: “Big tech companies are really getting to grips with it , so they are putting money behind it, and more importantly they’re putting people behind it.”

Under the Codes, algorithms must also be configured to filter out harmful content from children’s feeds and recommendations.

As well as the age checks, there will also be more streamlined reporting and complaints systems, and platforms will be required to take faster action in assessing and tackling harmful content when they are made aware if it.

All platforms must also have a “named person accountable for children’s safety”, and the management of risk to children should be reviewed annually by a senior body.

If companies fail to abide by the regulations put to them by 24 July, Ofcom said it has “the power to impose fines and – in very serious cases – apply for a court order to prevent the site or app from being available in the UK.”