Under a new crackdown announced Wednesday, a new league table will be published showing how well tech companies are protecting children from harmful content online, including suicide advice and pornography.
Media regulator Ofcom says new child safety rules mean companies that fail to block harmful content could be “named and shamed” and banned for users under 18. said.
The new requirements include stronger age checks using facial recognition and other forms of identification, as well as changes to algorithms used by tech companies to block harmful content directed at children.
The watchdog group, which introduced new provisions on Wednesday based on provisions set out in the Online Safety Act passed by parliament last year, said the reforms would allow children to enjoy “freedom of expression” with their peers around the world. However, he said people who wish to express themselves should be guaranteed protection. harm them.
Some families who have lost children to dangerous online content have warned that the new legislation does not go far enough, and will strengthen the law with measures such as a ban on the use of end-to-end information. I asked the ministers to do so. Stop encrypting social media for kids.
But Ofcom chief Dame Melanie Dawes said the new league table and other changes would significantly improve child safety.
“This is a big moment. Young people are being fed harmful content over and over again, and this is becoming the norm, and this needs to change,” she said.
“We will ensure that children are not exposed to suicidal or self-harm material or pornography through proper and robust age checks, algorithm changes and how we can filter content to what groups it is added to. calls for more control over teenagers.
“We will publish the standings so the public can see which companies have implemented changes and which have not.”
Ruth Moss, whose 13-year-old daughter Sophie Parkinson took her own life in 2014 after viewing suicide websites and self-harm videos on her mobile phone, said the new code is a positive change. However, he said further legislation would be needed to ban it. Using end-to-end encryption for children.
“Kids shouldn't be able to have private message conversations that are end-to-end encrypted, because…even the social media companies themselves don't have access to those conversations, which means that if something goes wrong… If… that means the evidence is lost,” she told the BBC. Radio 4's Today programme.
Other parents who have called for stronger legislation include Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly took her own life at the age of 14 after viewing images of self-harm and suicide online in 2017, and in February last year. This includes Esther Gay, whose daughter Brianna was murdered in . Two teenagers watched violent videos on the darknet before their murders.
