Judge us by impact of new online safety measures for children, says regulator
While some campaigners have welcomed the new protections – which include age checks to prevent children accessing pornography and other harmful content – others have branded them a 'sticking plaster'.
Charities and other organisations working in the sector of children's safety have agreed the key will be ensuring the measures are enforced, urging Ofcom to 'show its teeth'.
The changes also require platforms to ensure algorithms do not work to harm children by, for example, pushing such content on the likes of self harm and eating disorders towards them.
Actions which could be taken against firms which fail to adhere to the new codes include fines of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater, and court orders potentially blocking access in the UK.
Mr Kyle has said a generation of children will not be allowed to grow up 'at the mercy of toxic algorithms' as he pledged the Government is laying the foundations for a safer, healthier, more humane online world and warned tech firms 'will be held to account' if they fail to act in line with the changes.
He told Sky News: 'I have very high expectations of the change that children will experience.
'And let me just say this to parents and children, you will experience a different internet really, for the first time in from today, moving forward than you've had in the past. And that is a big step forward.'
The measures, as part of the Online Safety Act and set to be enforced by regulator Ofcom, require online platforms to have age checks – using facial age estimation or credit card checks – if they host pornography or other harmful content such as self-harm, suicide or eating disorders.
Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes said the regulator's research had shown half a million eight to 14-year-olds have come across pornography online in the last month alone.
When it was put to her by the BBC that one of their staff members testing out the new measures had been able to sign up to a well-known porn site on Friday using just an email address, she said sites will be 'checking patterns of email use' behind the scenes to verify users are adults.
She told Radio 4's Today programme: 'We've shown that we've got teeth and that we're prepared to use them at Ofcom. And we have secured commitments across the porn industry and from the likes of X that no other country has secured. These things can work.
'Judge us by the impact we secure. And absolutely, please do tell us if you think there's something we need to know about that isn't working because the law is very clear now.'
She also said the Government is right to be considering limits on the amount of time children can spend on social media apps.
Earlier this week, Mr Kyle said he wanted to tackle 'compulsive behaviour' and ministers are reportedly considering a two-hour limit, with curfews also under discussion.
Dame Melanie told LBC: 'I think the Government is right to be opening up this question. I think we're all a bit addicted to our phones, adults and children, obviously particularly a concern for young people. So, I think it's a good thing to be moving on to.'
Children's charities the NSPCC and Barnardo's are among those who have welcomed the new checks in place from Friday, as well as the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).
The IWF warned the 'safeguards put in place need to be robust and meaningful' and said there is 'still more to be done', as they urged tech platforms to to build in safeguards rather than having them as 'an afterthought'.
The Molly Rose Foundation – set up by bereaved father Ian Russell after his 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life having viewed harmful content on social media – said there is a 'lack of ambition and accountability' in the measures, and accused the regulator of choosing to 'prioritise the business needs of big tech over children's safety'.
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the foundation, told Sky News: 'We've always had a very simple test for the Online Safety Act, will it stop further young people like Molly from dying because of the harmful design of social media platforms?
'And regrettably, we just don't think it passes that test. This is a sticking plaster, not the comprehensive solution that we really need.'
Ofcom said it has also launched a monitoring and impact programme focused on some of the platforms where children spend most time including social media sites Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, gaming site Roblox and video clip website YouTube.
The sites are among those which have been asked to submit, by August 7, a review of their efforts to assess risks to children and, by September 30, scrutiny of the practical actions they are taking to keep children safe.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Labour's border chaos is fuelling public fury and fear as dangerous foreign offenders vanish into thin air
Labour's not smashing it IT is little more than a year since Labour came to power promising to smash the people-smuggling gangs. Instead they have smashed the economy — with inflation up, unemployment up and business confidence at a record low. The only significant growth is in the number of illegal migrants coming here in small boats. Already over 25,000 have arrived this year — a 50 per cent rise on the 2024 figure by this stage, which was shocking enough. That number is dwarfed by the UK's astonishing 700,000 population increase in just a year — almost entirely due to legal immigration — which itself is utterly unsustainable. The arrival of thousands of mostly undocumented illegal migrants is symptomatic of just how badly Britain has lost control of its borders. It's not just the millions of pounds it costs taxpayers every day to shower the migrants with handouts and put them up in hotels, nor the fact that so many of them find black market jobs. Most of the arrivals are young men of fighting age — yet the authorities seem to have little idea who they are, even if they end up in court. National emergency We discovered earlier this week that the number of foreign sex offenders and violent criminals in prison in England and Wales is at a record high, and that 40 per cent of people charged with sex attacks in the capital were foreign nationals. Now we learn foreign criminals are simply walking free mid-trial and disappearing under false names because of a dangerous 'disconnect' between prosecutors and immigration enforcement. It is little wonder that people — not least mothers — worry about migrant hotels on their doorsteps, or that protests are growing, or that polls show immigration is the number one issue concerning voters. So what is the Government doing about this national emergency? Reform UK's rising star Laila Cunningham It seems to have no plan, beyond a sketchy one-in-one-out deal with France and setting up a spy unit to track anyone on social media discussing anti-migrant sentiment or two-tier justice. While Britain continues to house soaring numbers of uninvited guests in four-star hotels, America has seen a massive drop in illegal border crossings because tough detention centres and deportations await those who do. President Donald Trump has shown the problem CAN be tackled, if only the political will exists. The Government, which ditched the Rwanda scheme — the only viable deterrent — as its first act in power, has shown precious little will so far. It's about time Sir Keir Starmer realised the urgency of the situation... and started taking tough action of his own. 1
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Trump's team ‘concerned' after it emerged a secret Government unit silenced critics of migrant hotels
DONALD Trump's team are 'greatly concerned' after it emerged a secret Government unit silenced critics of migrant hotels. Staff working for Technology Secretary Peter Kyle asked social media firms to remove posts critical of asylum hotels and 'two-tier policing'. 2 Tech giants, including TikTok, were warned the posts were 'exacerbating tensions' on the streets after the Southport riots. A US State Department spokesman said: 'President Trump has taken a strong stand defending free speech. "We are monitoring developments in the UK closely and with great concern.' Nigel Farage this week demanded an apology after the TEch Secretary sensationally claimed he is "on the side" of paedos like Jimmy Savile. Peter Kyle sparked a blazing row by alleging the Reform Party leader's vow to repeal online safety laws amounts to backing predators gaining access to children. Mr Kyle declared: 'If Jimmy Savile were alive today, he'd be perpetrating his crimes online. "And Nigel Farage is saying he's on their side.' Furious at the inflammatory accusation, Mr Farage hit back, branding the comments "disgusting" and demanding a retraction. He fumed: "Peter Kyle's comments on Sky News are disgusting. "He should do the right thing and apologise." However, the Tech Secretary refused to back down, stating: "If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators. "It is as simple as that."
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
UK's online safety law is putting free speech at risk, X says
LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Britain's online safety law risks suppressing free speech due to its heavy-handed enforcement, social media site X said on Friday, adding that significant changes were needed. The Online Safety Act, which is being rolled out this year, sets tough new requirements on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X, as well as sites hosting pornography, to protect children and remove illegal content. But it has attracted criticism from politicians, free-speech campaigners and content creators, who have complained that the rules had been implemented too broadly, resulting in the censorship of legal content. Users have complained about age checks that require personal data to be uploaded to access sites that show pornography, and more than 468,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the act to be repealed. The government said on Monday it had no plans to do so and it was working with regulator Ofcom to implement the act as quickly as possible. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said on Tuesday that those who wanted to overturn it were "on the side of predators". Elon Musk's X, which has implemented age verification, said the law's laudable intentions were at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach. "When lawmakers approved these measures, they made a conscientious decision to increase censorship in the name of 'online safety'," it said in a statement. "It is fair to ask if UK citizens were equally aware of the trade-off being made." X said the timetable for meeting mandatory measures had been unnecessarily tight, and despite being in compliance, platforms still faced threats of enforcement and fines, encouraging over-censorship. It said a balanced approach was the only way to protect liberty, encourage innovation and safeguard children. "It's safe to say that significant changes must take place to achieve these objectives in the UK," it said. A UK government spokesperson said it is "demonstrably false" that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech. "As well as legal duties to keep children safe, the very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression," the spokesperson said. Ofcom said on Thursday it had launched investigations into the compliance of four companies, which collectively run 34 pornography sites.
