Ofcom released a report today showing that 73% of 11- to 17-year-olds in the UK were exposed to harmful online content over a four-week period, mainly via personalized recommendation feeds on social media platforms [1, 2]. TikTok was cited as the platform most frequently exposing children to such content, followed by YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat [1, 2].
The UK media regulator sharply criticized TikTok and YouTube for failing to make significant new commitments to improve child safety or to make recommendation feeds safer [1, 3, 2]. Ofcom said nearly a year after the Online Safety Act duties began, “there has been little overall improvement in children's exposure to harmful content” [1]. The watchdog rejects TikTok and YouTube’s claims that their existing safety systems are sufficient, citing evidence that recommendation algorithms still frequently expose children to harmful material [1, 3, 2].
TikTok’s spokesperson called the report "very disappointing," saying Ofcom failed to acknowledge the company’s longstanding and newer safety features and pledging ongoing investments in user safety [1]. YouTube said it provides "industry-leading, age-appropriate, high-quality experiences for young viewers," working with child safety experts to protect millions of UK families. It welcomed that others in the industry will adopt similar features [1].
Following an earlier demand from Ofcom in April, Meta, Snap, and Roblox have committed to stronger protections against online grooming [1, 3, 2]. Snap will block adult strangers from contacting children by default and plans to implement a "highly effective age assurance" system for UK users under 18 by summer 2026 to identify minors [1, 3, 2]. Meta plans new AI tools to detect suspicious and sexualized adult-teen conversations on Instagram and to introduce new controls for teen accounts [1, 3, 2]. Roblox will allow parents to disable direct messaging for users under 16 and improve age verification systems [1, 3, 2].
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged social media companies to take greater responsibility for child safety online [1, 2]. Meanwhile, the UK government is consulting on a potential ban on social media use by children under 16 to tackle addictive platform design and better protect minors [1, 2].
Ofcom first emailed major social networks in March 2025 demanding improved child safety protections after a late 2024 study and publicly issued tougher anti-grooming demands in April 2026 [3, 1, 2]. Snap’s age assurance rollout is planned for summer 2026 [3].
