Bereaved parents claim regulator not keeping children safe online
Ellen Roome from Cheltenham thinks her son Jools Sweeney died while doing an online challenge. She is one of the parents worried Ofcom isn't doing enough
A group of bereaved parents have handed a letter into Downing Street, demanding that Ofcom does more to enforce the Online Safety Act.
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It cites concerns "regarding Ofcom’s capacity to enforce the Online Safety Act effectively", "the recent emergence of reports concerning harms from AI chatbots and the persistent challenges in collecting fines".
Ellen Roome from Cheltenham thinks her son Jools Sweeney died while doing an online challenge. She is one of the parents worried Ofcom isn't doing enough.
She told LBC: "Ofcom should (be) making sure that (social media companies are) not allowing harmful material on their platform. There's massive amounts of harmful material and they need to step up and start regulating them and removing that content.
"We're a group of bereaved parents and we've all got very individual situations but we've all lost our children through online harm and we're all trying to turn the most horrific situation into some sort of positive by helping other children."
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According to the Government, the Online Safety Act 2023 is a "set of laws that protects children and adults online. It puts a range of new duties on social media companies and search services, making them more responsible for their users’ safety on their platforms.
"The strongest protections in the Act have been designed for children. Platforms will be required to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they do arise.
"Ofcom is the independent regulator of Online Safety. It will set out steps providers can take to fulfil their safety duties in codes of practice."
The letter handed into Downing Street, and addressed to Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Liz Kendall, says "while we note that Ofcom has begun issuing sanctions—including the £20,000 fine against 4chan for failing to respond to statutory information requests—we remain deeply concerned about the 'follow-through' on such penalties.
"It is our understanding that a significant proportion of fines remain unpaid, particularly when levied against companies based outside the UK that lack domestic assets."
The letter, shown to LBC, goes on to say: "Recent reports highlighting online harm stemming from AI chatbots demonstrate the rapidly evolving nature of the digital landscape.
"We seek assurance that Ofcom’s current "Online Safety Group" possesses the necessary technical expertise to regulate generative AI and algorithmic amplification, which often fall outside traditional content moderation frameworks.
"We reiterate our call for regular, independent skills audits—including at the senior and board levels—to ensure the regulator is equipped for these specific, high-tech challenges."
Ofcom say in 2025 they "made significant progress in implementing the Online Safety Act (the Act).
"We completed our Illegal Harms and Protection of Children codes and guidance on implementing highly effective age assurance and started driving compliance with these core requirements.
"We have also delivered other key building blocks of the Online Safety regime, including those relating to setting up our fees, super-complaints, and transparency reporting functions."
The regulator has provided regular progress updates, with a year-long plan for how they'll implement the Online Safety Act in the future.
The government says under the Online Safety Act, "companies can be fined up to £18 million or 10 percent of their qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater.
"Ofcom (can) hold companies and senior managers (where they are at fault) criminally liable if the provider fails to comply with Ofcom’s enforcement notices in relation to specific child safety duties or to for child sexual abuse and exploitation on their service.
"In the most extreme cases, with the agreement of the courts, Ofcom will be able to require payment providers, advertisers and internet service providers to stop working with a site, preventing it from generating money or being accessed from the UK."