Ofcom won't set safety standards for future social media - here is what I think they should do
Ofcom should use the Online Safety Act to compel platforms to make their services and products safe before they are rolled out, writes online safety expert Maeve Walsh
The Online Safety Act is a long and complex piece of legislation, but its very first section explains its purpose: regulated services must be “safe by design”.
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Yet, over two and a half years on, we’re no further forward with this aim. Ofcom, the online safety regulator, has produced a series of codes of practice for industry that are narrow in scope and limited to ex-post measures designed to deal with harm after it has occurred.
Parents are exasperated at the lack of meaningful change while the services their kids use seem to be getting worse - more harmful, more dangerous, designed to be more distracting and more attention-sapping. Calls for banning children from platforms have crowded out more strategic, systemic approaches.
But there is another way - and it is one that new polling proves will be popular. Use the Online Safety Act to compel platforms to make their services and products safe before they are rolled out, as we do with toys, food, household appliances, and most other products.
The majority of people agree that requiring companies to prove their products are designed and tested to be safe before use would keep all users safe online. Our polling shows that 79% believe we need comprehensive laws to regulate social media platforms because platform operators will otherwise prioritise their business interests over user safety. And only 2% think platforms are doing a good job of reducing the risk of harm to users.
The good news for the Government is that it does not have to reopen the existing legislation or bring in new laws to deliver what the public wants. Ofcom already has the power under the OSA to produce a code of practice on safety by design and enforce it. The Government - with a small amendment - could update the Act to make this requirement clear, and add a definition of safety by design to ensure there is no further doubt about its objective.
The even better news is that civil society has done the work for them: today, the Online Safety Act Network is launching a code of practice, developed with nine expert partners and backed by 35 more, showing exactly how it could work.
It draws on the principles of product safety regulation that are well established elsewhere: safety-test your products, introduce safeguards for any risks that can’t be eliminated, and provide routes for remediation. Repeat. This will stop unsafe products from being rolled out to market and ensure proper tech accountability for harmful feeds and design.
This approach would transform the online experience for all users, not just children. And, crucially, it will help deliver what the Online Safety Act was intended to do: end the era of tech exceptionalism and bring social media services and other online platforms into line with the basic standards we expect from any other sector.
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Maeve Walsh is the Director of the Online Safety Act Network, which supports over 80 civil society organisations, academics and campaigners with an interest in the effective implementation of the OSA.
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