What's being done to help keep children safe online? Ask Ofcom expert - £200 voucher to be won

[MaddyMumsnet]

Created for Ofcom

The online world can feel overwhelming and, at times, unsafe for children - What measures are being taken to protect kids online? How can social media platforms prevent children from encountering harmful content? What steps can parents take to ensure their child's online safety?

• Everyone who shares a questions on the thread below by 28/6/24 will be entered into a prize draw
• One lucky Mumsnet user will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice
• Almudena will be back on the week of the 8/7/24 to answer some of your questions

About Almudena, Online Safety Policy Director:
Almudena Lara has almost 20 years’ experience in online child protection, and has worked in private, public, regulatory and charity sectors. She joined Ofcom in 2023 with responsibility for child protection, and previously worked at Google and the NSPCC on creating better protections for children online.
Almudena said: "My focus is on tackling online harm by helping to make sure the right rules and resources are in place to protect people, especially children, from them. It's crucial that we act now to help build a safer life online for everyone."

Here’s what Ofcom has to say:
Ofcom is the UK's independent communications regulator, and we keep an eye on broadcast media, telecoms, post and spectrum. Under the Online Safety Act, we're now the UK's online safety regulator and have a responsibility to make online services safer for people who use them by making sure companies have effective systems in place to protect users from harm. We’re proposing measures like safer algorithms, effective age checks and better content moderation to help keep children safer on social media and tech platforms. This aims to protect children from seeing harmful content such as suicide, self-harm and pornography.

So whether you have a question on online age checks, safer algorithms or measures being taken to combat online bullying, post your question on this thread for our Ofcom Expert to answer.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

tictok has a lot of inappropriate content. Can there be anything done about this? There’s no age limit for posting videos, you can link it to your own account, but my daughter bypassed this by creating a new account.

Who is the best ISP to create bespoke settings for all of the devices in the home when they connect ?

Children should have social media linked to parent accounts for monitoring purposes if below the age of 16. I do feel a platform should be made for ID to be provided to take out social media accounts but I'm unsure how this would be managed. I do think the age could be increased to 16 across social media platforms to prevent some of the harmful content and exposure.

Social media platforms should also be banned from using algorithms to target children.

You always need an email address or mobile to create an on-line account - so I should be able to monitor - but can you create a new email address from scratch without authentication ? I want to cover all bases to make sure no accounts are set up without my knowledge

I think there should be more covert monitoring of hate/bullying/s**cide promotion - and there are probably many more - I really do not know where to start in allowing my DD a mobile phone for independence and she can call me - BUT there is a massive downside to social media - I would love some tips on how to protect and promote safe use - and how to check her phone messages etc

Do you know if social media has moderators for on-line chat - so any issues can be reported to a parent / school / police ?

I really think joining any social media account should require parental approval - with access to on-line messaging - with the age to be 16. A parents identity should be sought - in terms of a form of ID so that no covert accounts can be sought - same should apply to new accounts to prevent catfishing of our youngsters - and multiple accounts being created - I have seen so many heartbroken familes where youngsters have been trolled and worse on social media with heartbreaking consequences

Are there courses or resources to support parent navigate this? I feel quite lost and clueless about it all, I don’t know where to start. My kids are still young, but they do learn about internet security at school already. Will the school provide guidance as they get older?

What is the best way of monitoring what my children are doing online when I’m not with them?

Can I be assured that the 'on line safety act' is working - if so how can I be assured ?

I get the feeling that the on-line world is very unsafe - from predators, bullys, graphic and sexual images shared on line - and cannot see how the on-line safety act can tackle such things. I went on Twitter the other day and was astounded as to what was posted there - and as for tiktok etc - until there are major changes by ISP's I won't be letting my DC's on unsupervised - my question how do we, as parents, try to prevent this content ?

My child has just got their first smartphone. What parental controls should I be putting on it?
Thank you.

What ISP would you recommend - I am about to change providers - who has the best inbuilt parental controls ? and can I configure them per device ? is it relatively easy - for someone with reasonably good IT skills ? tia

Is there a recommended age to stop monitoring a child's Internet use?

Is there a piece of software I could use which I could covertly add to my childs phone to add controls and block content, and warn me about any messages they are getting which may be hurtful - or is there anything you can recommend - my ds has a mobile which I feel is vulnerable when using mobile data and not the home internet.

Can I set a laptop log-in where my DC's can use on-line for watching YouTube and BBC Iplayer without being subject to violence and sexual content - I want to give my 12 year old some independence on-line - but set up the controls so I am confident they can browse safely - they may want to take it to a friends using another wi-fi connection

Just how easy is it nowadays for a stranger to message/contact/monitor a childs internet use - with parental controls, settings, and using our controls on our ISP settings - I think we are as safe as we can be - we need to educate our children who are keyboard bullys and go looking for excitement on the internet - my Q would be - do you think we raise awareness of cyberbullying, internet porn blackmail in schools - and those who are educated at home ?

Would be great if there could be some way to link social media accounts so parents can over see. Is there any real progress being made on stopping kids having accounts with false ages

can keywords be picked up by the ISP - can I set my modem up to increase/monitor whats being accessed - and who is messaging our DC's on-line - can you give examples please ?

Do you think that the guidance and awareness taught in schools is sufficient - and are the dangers of cyberbullying and it's consequences on mental health of young minds sufficient - if. not - how would you encourage schools to promote this

@MaddyMumsnet when you draw the winner for this - can you please update the threads below with the mumsnet winner ? ty 😀

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/sponsored_discussions/4701094-what-changes-have-you-made-to-support-your-gut-health-ps200-voucher-to-be-won

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/sponsored_discussions/5052189-travelling-with-young-children-share-your-top-tips-advice-for-travelling-with-young-children-for-a-chance-to-win-a-ps200-voucher?page=3

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https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/sponsored_discussions/5031555-what-do-you-wish-you-knew-before-your-first-holiday-with-a-baby-ps200-voucher-to-be-won?page=4

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/sponsored_qas/5038036-do-you-have-questions-about-household-energy-ask-utilita-expert-now-ps200-voucher-to-be-won

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Can you please update the threads with the winners names

Whats your best advice for a 14 yo who likes to watch youtube, play on the PS5 in their own bedroom to keep them as safe as you can with who can message and video chat with them (I don't think this is happening as I have asked them - but can I change the settings to avoid this)

I have a twitter and instagram account - and am horrified at the message requests I get from women offering their bodies, obvious investment scams and more - this really puts me off ever letting my kids have social media - but they keep asking for a tik tok and facebook account - any advice on keeping them 100% secure please ?

Hi Lycrappul. Our proposed measures to protect children online would apply to TikTok - as well as many other major social media sites available in the UK. As a result of these proposed measures, we expect children will be protected in a number of ways including: they won't normally be able to access pornography; they'll be protected from being recommended potentially harmful content by the platform; and it will be easier to complain when they see harmful content. Our proposed measures on age checks will mean they will not be able to see content unsuitable for children, before they are 18. It's also worth noting that the terms of service for TikTok set a minimum age of 13 for the platform. We will hold platforms to account if they don't put proper protections in place for children

Hi Hopebridge. The minimum age for online services varies from one platform to another. Many social media sites have a minimum age of 13, while others e.g. Roblox, have younger limits. However, the Online Safety Act doesn't set a minimum age for all social media services. It does require sites to assess whether children are likely to be using their sites and it sets out various forms of content they must protect under 18s from e.g. pornography. We've proposed that platforms have robust age checks in place to help make sure under 18s are not exposed to harmful content and will also be able to hold sites to account on the terms and conditions they have in place - including any minimum age limits.