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UK regulators are calling on social media sites to "tame toxic algorithms" to prevent kids from seeing content related to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, and pornography.
"Services must also minimize children’s exposure to other serious harms, including violent, hateful or abusive material, online bullying, and content promoting dangerous challenges," telecom regulator Ofcom says as part of a new draft Children’s Safety Codes of Practice.
The proposal has "more than 40 practical measures," Ofcom says, including "robust age-checks" and improved content moderation.
"We want children to enjoy life online. But for too long, their experiences have been blighted by seriously harmful content which they can't avoid or control," says Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom Chief Executive. "Many parents share feelings of frustration and worry about how to keep their children safe. That much change."
The new rules would go into effect in the second half of 2025, according to the BBC, which quotes Dawes as saying companies that break the rules will be "named and shamed."
According to the draft, the rules are aimed at services that have "a significant number of children who are users of the service" and services that are "likely to attract a significant number of users who are children." Tech firms that fall into those categories will have to complete a children's risk assessment to identify potential harm and make corrections where needed.
Amid backlash from leaks like "The Facebook Files," social media companies have made some changes to how how they handle younger users. In the US, kids under 13 are technically not allowed on sites like Facebook or Instagram, but those restrictions are easy to bypass.