Prevent adults from direct messaging children, Ofcom tells social media firms

25 November 2021, 13:34

A picture of the Twitter, Instagram and Facebook icons
Social media companies will be subject to a new Online Harms Bill. Picture: PA

The proposals in the Online Harms Bill include fines of up to £18 million or 10% of companies’ global turnover.

Social media companies should face sanctions if they do not prevent adults from directly messaging children, the head of Ofcom has reportedly said.

The communications watchdog will regulate the sector under the Online Harms Bill and have the power to fine companies and block access to sites.

And The Times reported Dame Melanie Dawes will encourage the regulator to closely examine direct messaging when the new regulations are introduced in 2023.

Her colleague, director of online safety policy Mark Bunting, was quoted by the paper saying cutting grooming off at source was a “blindingly obvious” solution.

Speaking about the industry and the bill, Dame Melanie said: “I don’t think it’s sustainable for them to carry on as we are. Something’s got to change.

“What regulation offers them is a way to have consistency across the industry, to persuade users that they’re putting things right, and to prevent what could be a real erosion of public trust.

“They really need to persuade us that they understand who’s actually using their platforms, and that they are designing for the reality of their users and not just the older age group that they all say they have in their terms and conditions.”

The proposals in the Online Harms Bill include punishments for non-compliant firms such as large fines of up to £18 million or 10% of their global turnover – whichever is higher.

Andy Burrows, head of child safety online policy at the NSPCC, told The Times: “We’re not seeing responses that are anywhere near proportionate to the problem.

“If you’re going to meaningfully protect children, you have to be disrupting child abuse at the earliest point you can, and that is direct messaging.”

In August, Instagram announced it would require all users to provide their date of birth, while Google has introduced a raft of privacy changes for children who use its search engine and YouTube platform.

TikTok also began limiting the direct messaging abilities of accounts belonging to 16 and 17-year-olds, as well as offering advice to parents and caregivers on how to support teenagers when they sign up.

By Press Association

More Technology News

See more More Technology News

AI warning

Essays written with ChatGPT feature repetition of words and ideas – study

A broadband router

Big four broadband firms beaten by smaller rivals in latest Which? survey

A person pressing on the Tik Tok logo on the screen of a smartphone

TikTok to launch online election centres to counter misinformation

A person using a laptop

Up to eight million UK jobs at risk from AI, report says

Smartphone showing apps

One in six adolescents have experienced cyberbullying, global study finds

An Uber Eats driver

Uber Eats driver wins payout over discriminatory facial recognition checks

Rishi Sunak visits Cumbria

Sunak says UK ‘more robust’ on China than most allies

Chinese President state visit – Preparations

Minister calls China ‘security threat’ after UK and US blame Beijing for hacking

China

UK and US accuse China of ‘malicious’ global cyber attacks

A hand on a laptop

Tougher action needed to combat copycat banking websites, says Which?

Dowden

Dowden guarantees UK elections will be safe from Chinese cyber attacks

A woman’s hand pressing a key of a laptop keyboard

Cyber security agency says China behind ‘malicious’ cyber attacks on UK

A young girl uses the TikTok app on a smartphone

TikTok Youth Council holds first meetings on better online safety for teenagers

Margrethe Vestager

EU opens competition investigations into Apple, Google and Meta

Social Media Stock

Some parents coming to regard online harassment of girls as ‘normal’ – report

historisches Werbeplakat fuer den Spielfilm “Terminator Jugdement Day” mit Arnold Schwarzenegger, Berlin.

Hollywood has ‘helped to fan flames of fear about AI’, peers hear