Tech companies must focus on protecting children from abuse, grooming and pro-suicide content says Ofcom in its first steps as the enforcer of online safety.
The regulator which gained new powers when the Online Safety Act came into law last month, said children were a key priority.
It said its role would be to force firms, such as Facebook and Instagram owner Meta , to tackle the causes of online harm by making their services safer.
Firms will be required to assess the risk of users being harmed by illegal content on their platform, and take appropriate steps to protect them from it.
There is a particular focus on ‘priority offences’ set out in the legislation, such as child abuse, grooming and encouraging suicide; but it could be any illegal content
Protecting children will be Ofcom’s first priority as the online safety regulator. Scattergun friend requests are frequently used by adults looking to groom children for the purposes of sexual abuse. Our new research, published today, sets out the scale and nature of children’s experiences of potentially unwanted and inappropriate contact online.
Three in five secondary-school-aged children (11-18 years) have been contacted online in a way that potentially made them feel uncomfortable. Some 30% have received an unwanted friend or follow request. And around one in six secondary-schoolers have either been sent naked or half-dressed photos, or been asked to share these themselves.
“Regulation is here, and we’re wasting no time in setting out how we expect tech firms to protect people from illegal harm online, while upholding freedom of expression. Children have told us about the dangers they face, and we’re determined to create a safer life online for young people in particular.” said Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s Chief Executive
“In the five years it has taken to get the Online Safety Act onto the statute book grooming crimes against children on social media have increased by a staggering 82%.
“That is why Ofcom’s focus on tackling online grooming is so welcome, with this code of practice outlining the minimum measures companies should be taking to better protect children.
“We look forward to working with Ofcom to ensure these initial codes help to build bold and ambitious regulation that listens to the voices of children and responds to their experiences in order to keep them safe.” said Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC Chief Executive
