Ofcom, short for the Office of Communications, aims to enforce rules to protect children online following the government's Online Safety Act. It wants to address harmful content like self-harm, pornography, and violence that children are exposed to on social media. If platforms don't improve safety measures, Ofcom threatens to ban under-18s from using social media. The guidelines include age verification, content moderation, and reporting mechanisms. Ofcom plans to implement these rules by the second half of 2025.
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.Ofcom has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material.Some of the main areas Ofcom regulates are TV and radio standards, broadband and phones, video-sharing platforms online, the wireless spectrum and postal services.The regulator was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002 and received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003.
The Online Safety Act 2023 (c. 50) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to regulate online speech and media. It passed on 26 October 2023 and gives the relevant Secretary of State the power, subject to parliamentary approval, to designate and suppress or record a wide range of speech and media deemed "harmful".The act requires platforms, including end-to-end encrypted messengers, to scan for child pornography, despite warnings from experts that it is not possible to implement such a scanning mechanism without undermining users' privacy.The act creates a new duty of care of online platforms, requiring them to take action against illegal or legal but "harmful" content from their users. Platforms failing this duty would be liable to fines of up to £18 million or 10% of their annual turnover, whichever is higher. It also empowers Ofcom to block access to particular websites. It obliges large social media platforms not to remove, and to preserve access to, journalistic or "democratically important" content such as user comments on political parties and issues.The bill that became the Act was criticised for its proposals to restrain the publication of "lawful but harmful" speech, effectively creating a new form of censorship of otherwise legal speech. As a result, in November 2022, measures that were intended to force big technology platforms to take down "legal but harmful" materials were removed from the bill. Instead, tech platforms are obliged to introduce systems that will allow the users to better filter out the "harmful" content they do not want to see.The act grants significant powers to the Secretary of State to direct Ofcom, the media regulator, on the exercise of its functions, which includes the power to direct Ofcom as to the content of codes of practice. This has raised concerns about the government's intrusion in the regulation of speech with unconstrained emergency-like powers which could undermine Ofcom's authority and independence.
Ofcom research indicates that a significant percentage of UK children aged five to seven own smartphones, with a rise in social media usage and messaging services like WhatsApp. The communications regulator expressed concern over diminishing parental rule enforcement and urged the industry to enhance child protection measures. A considerable number of children under 13 access social media platforms despite age restrictions, leading to calls for stricter age limits on smartphone and social media usage.
U.K. regulator Ofcom is investigating OnlyFans for allegedly failing to prevent minors from accessing pornographic material on its platform. Ofcom has concerns about OnlyFans' age-verification measures and the accuracy of information provided. OnlyFans uses age-assurance provider Yoti but a coding error set the age threshold at 20 instead of 23. The investigation focuses on U.K. users accessing the platform. OnlyFans faces scrutiny under existing regulations, not the Online Safety Act which comes into force later. Ofcom regulates video-sharing platforms in the U.K. since 2020 and can impose fines or service restrictions for non-compliance.
If the government is going to strengthen the Online Safety Act, banning social media for under-16s is not the answer I n the six years since my youngest daughter Molly died , it is striking how little has changed. Children and young people continue to face a wave of inherently preventable online harms on often negligent social media platforms. In a ferocious battle for market share, the risks on sites such as Instagram and TikTok have, in some respects, become worse. It is therefore no surprise that there is a considerable groundswell in demands for much more to be done. Across the UK, grassroots parents groups are increasingly calling for a fundamental reset in the relationship between children and their smartphone use.
Child safety group expresses concern over Meta lowering the minimum age for WhatsApp users from 16 to 13 in the UK and EU, with campaigners highlighting risks of harmful content to children. WhatsApp owner Meta introduced safety features like Nudity Protection filter for users under 18 to prevent inappropriate content. Instances of children as young as nine being exposed to harmful content on WhatsApp, including self-harm and racism, have raised alarms. The Online Safety Act aims to empower regulators to hold social media companies accountable for child safety online, amid growing criticisms of tech giants prioritising profits over protection.
TikTok has introduced a Youth Council made up of 15 teenagers from around the world to advise on making the platform safer for young users, focusing on wellbeing and inclusion. The council discussed redesigning the Youth Portal and requested more transparency on reporting processes. The Online Safety Act and research highlighting communication gaps between teens and parents regarding social media were also mentioned. The council aims to influence safety policies and works with online safety organizations. Despite efforts to engage teens in advocacy, TikTok faces challenges regarding youth safety perceptions.
Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, has called for mobile phones specifically made for children under 16 to protect them from online harms. She believes that tech giants and mobile phone companies need to take more responsibility for children's welfare. Ghey also believes that the Online Safety Act introduced by the government does not go far enough and called for more drastic measures to protect children. She hopes to work with experts and regulators to find solutions to improve online protection for children.
Conservative MP Miriam Cates has suggested that under-16s should be banned from using smartphones and social media for the sake of their mental health. Cates cited the increase in poor teenage mental health since 2010 and a tragic case of a 14-year-old girl who took her own life following social media bullying. The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, agreed with Cates, highlighting the impact of online activities on children. Sunak stated that the Online Safety Act is addressing these concerns by tackling criminal activity online and protecting children from harmful content.
CEOs from top social media platforms including Meta, X, TikTok, Discord, and Snap will testify before Congress on Wednesday to address criticism that their companies have not done enough to protect children and teenagers online. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, titled 'Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis', will cover concerns such as the facilitation of sexual predation, white supremacist extremism, fentanyl sales, and self-harm content. The hearing is part of the push to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which has bipartisan support but has faced opposition for potentially promoting censorship and negatively impacting the LGBTQ community.
The "Kids Online Safety Act" (KOSA) is a bill introduced in the United States Senate by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D‑CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R‑TN) in February 2022 and reintroduced in May 2023; the bill establishes guidelines meant to protect minors on social media platforms. The bill charges individual state attorneys general with enforcing the bill. The bill has been criticized by civil rights organizations for potentially enabling censorship, including of material important to marginalized groups.
Ofcom has launched an investigation into a radio show hosted by David Lammy on LBC to determine if the Good Friday episode breached rules on politicians acting as news presenters. The episode in question, which received 51 complaints, featured Lammy reporting on the resignation of DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson following charges of historical sexual offences. This scrutiny comes amidst a trend of politicians hosting news shows, with Ofcom recently finding breaches on GB News hosted by Conservative MPs. GB News faces potential sanctions if impartiality rules are violated again.
Ofcom warns TV and radio stations with shows hosted by politicians, including GB News and LBC, that fines may be imposed for breaking impartiality rules during the upcoming UK general election campaign. Serving MPs are prohibited from hosting programs during the campaign period, and breaches will be treated as serious violations. Ofcom is investigating instances of rule breaches, including shows hosted by Nigel Farage, David Lammy, and Jake Berry. The regulator emphasizes the importance of due impartiality and the restrictions on politicians presenting news programs during election periods.
Ofcom ruled that Laurence Fox's remarks about journalist Ava Evans on Dan Wootton's show were highly offensive and misogynistic. Nearly 9,000 complaints were received. Fox and Wootton were initially suspended, with Fox later being sacked. Fox apologized, stating his comments were not representative of who he is.
Ofcom investigated GB News programmes hosted by Tory MPs and found five episodes presented by politicians such as Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Esther McVey failed to comply with impartiality rules under the Broadcasting Code. The regulator stated that using politicians as news presenters undermines the integrity of broadcast news. GB News faces the possibility of a statutory sanction if it violates the rules again, including potential financial penalties or license suspension. Esther McVey resigned from GB News in November after being appointed to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's cabinet.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction over the areas of broadband access, fair competition, radio frequency use, media responsibility, public safety, and homeland security.The FCC was formed by the Communications Act of 1934 to replace the radio regulation functions of the previous Federal Radio Commission. The FCC took over wire communication regulation from the Interstate Commerce Commission. The FCC's mandated jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of the United States. The FCC also provides varied degrees of cooperation, oversight, and leadership for similar communications bodies in other countries in North America. The FCC is funded entirely by regulatory fees. It has an estimated fiscal-2022 budget of US $388 million. It has 1,482 federal employees as of July 2020.
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