September 30th is the deadline for the world’s biggest social media platforms – including Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, TikTok and YouTube – to prove to Ofcom they are walking the walk on children’s online safety. As part of the UK media regulator’s rollout of the Online Safety Act, the platforms most popular with kids will need […]
July 25th saw new rules from the Online Safety Act come into place, requiring adult websites and others that might contain adult content to verify that users are over the age of 18. A YouGov polling shows that, in the six days since the rules came into force, one in four Brits (26 per cent) […]
Research from the BBFC reveals that one in three adult content viewers have been exposed to violent or abusive content online in the last three months. In a survey of 2,021 adults who had accessed adult content online, over half (58 per cent) expressed concern about the levels of violence or abuse depicted. The concerning […]
Regulator Ofcom has launched a number of investigations into whether seven file-sharing services, 4chan and pornography provider First Time Videos have failed to comply with their duties under the UK’s Online Safety Act. The Online Safety Act has introduced new rules to ensure online services take action to protect their UK users, especially children. Sites […]
Online abuse is having a significant impact on the ability of sportspeople and pundits to do their jobs, live their lives and express themselves, according to research published by Ofcom. As part of Ofcom’s work to implement the UK’s Online Safety Act, the regulator will produce a Code of Practice on how certain ‘categorised’ services […]
From today (March 17th), online platforms must start putting in place measures to protect people in the UK from criminal activity, while media regulator Ofcom has launched its latest enforcement programme to assess industry compliance. Providers of services in scope of the UK’s Online Safety Act had until March 16th to carry out an illegal […]
Ofcom has proposed “concrete measures” that tech firms should take to tackle online harms against women and girls, setting a new standard for their online safety. With insights from victims, survivors, women’s advocacy groups and safety experts, the new draft guidance sets out practical, ambitious but achievable measures that providers can implement to improve women’s and girls’ […]
Children will be prevented from encountering adult content and protected from other types of harmful content under Ofcom’s new industry guidance which sets out how it expects sites and apps to introduce effective age assurance. The decisions are the next step in Ofcom implementing the Online Safety Act and creating a safer life online for […]
Consumers are keen to start the new year with a digital detox, with more than a third (38 per cent) recognising the negative impact being online has on their well-being, according to the EY Decoding the Digital Home survey. The survey of 2,500 UK consumers looks at attitudes towards technology, media and telecoms experiences in […]
Ofcom has announced the appointment of Oliver Griffiths as its new Group Director, Online Safety. Griffiths joins from the Trade Remedies Authority, which defends UK economic interests against unfair international trade practices, where he has been Chief Executive since 2021. He was previously a Director in the Department of International Trade, responsible for UK-US trade […]