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Tech companies have been warned to protect young people online after MPs voted down a blanket social media ban for under-16s.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and Ofcom, the communications regulator, have written to several platforms to demand stronger protections for children.
Ofcom has given Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube until the end of April to explain what actions they’re taking on age checks and preventing online grooming.
The platforms must also set out how they’re tackling harmful algorithms, and how they roll out updates for users, with Ofcom demanding an “end to product testing on children”.
Similarly, the ICO has written to TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X – formerly Twitter – asking them how their age check policies keep children safe.
It comes after a Conservative-led push to ban under-16s from social media failed in the House of Commons, being voted down by 307 votes to 173.
After initially opposing the measure, ministers are now consulting on a ban, without committing to backing it.
Australia became the first country to implement a social media ban for children when its policy took effect in December last year.
Ofcom said its research had shown that minimum age policies of 13 were not being properly enforced, with 72% of children aged eight to 12 accessing sites and apps prohibited for their age.
Children ‘routinely exposed to risks’
Its chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes accused big tech companies of “failing to put children’s safety at the heart of their products”.
She continued: “There is a gap between what tech companies promise in private, and what they’re doing…
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