Online Safety Act ‘ignores predators hiding in plain sight’: amid warning warns anonymity on social media leaves children at risk

The law’s focus on age verification and explicit content risks “creating friction for legitimate users without addressing the behaviours that put children in harm’s way”.

“The responsibility of keeping children safe online cannot sit solely with parents or schools. It has to also fall on the social media platforms and digital communities that are attracting young audiences,” Gus Tomlinson, Managing Director, Identity Fraud at GBG, told LBC.

Speaking exclusively to LBC, she said that the root problem is anonymity, which allows abusers to create disposable accounts, target children in chat functions and games, and then reappear under new identities.

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“Predators don’t wait patiently at the gates of adult websites. They reach children on mainstream platforms, in the places where children spend their time and form their friendships – and they do so under the cloak of anonymity,” she said.

The warning comes from the online safety expert, who compared the situation to allowing adults to walk invisibly through schools or playgrounds. “We would never accept that offline, and yet that is what we permit online,” she said.

She called for platforms to “design safer communities, rooted in identity”, so that young people can take part in digital life without fear.

The Online Safety Act, which was passed last year, gives Ofcom new powers to regulate online platforms, with fines of up to 10% of global turnover for firms that fail to comply. However, campaigners have voiced concerns that its measures do not adequately address grooming and abuse on mainstream services.