Ofcom renews warning to social media firms and online services
Britain’s communications regulator has used the latest public update on online safety to tell social media and other online services they must accelerate work on age assurance and child protections, and to remind firms they remain subject to active scrutiny and enforcement where protections fall short.
What the regulator said and why it matters
Ofcom’s public update sets out that deployment of age checks across pornography, social media, dating and gaming services has increased markedly since the UK’s child protection duties took effect, and that these checks are already deterring some underage access. At the same time the regulator warned that implementation is uneven, some methods in use are not sufficiently reliable, and more must be done if broader legal steps restricting under 16s’ access to social media are to be enforceable in future.
Ofcom emphasised four immediate priorities for the industry: ensure services that currently lack age checks introduce them without delay; work with search engines to reduce discovery of age restricted sites that lack protections; stop relying on unproven age inference systems where those cannot be shown to be highly effective; and strengthen age assurance used by dating and similar services.
TikTok investigation remains central to concerns
The regulator confirmed publicly that it has opened a formal investigation into whether TikTok’s approach to age assurance and its systems preventing children from encountering primary priority harmful content comply with duties under the Online Safety Act. Ofcom said the investigation will examine whether the platform’s methods are sufficiently accurate and robust to meet the statutory standard for highly effective age assurance.
That investigation has been a focus for UK authorities and child safety campaigners because personalized recommendation systems and weak age checks can allow children to be exposed quickly to content that regulators classify as high risk, including explicit material and posts that encourage self harm.
Where progress has been made and where the gaps remain
Ofcom’s analysis shows rapid adoption of age checks across many services, with a substantial increase in the share of children encountering checks judged as highly effective in the first months after duties came into force. The regulator pointed to declines in traffic for some porn sites after age checks were deployed, which it interprets as evidence that properly implemented age assurance can work as a deterrent.
However, the regulator also says nearly one in ten children studied still reached sites without age checks, and that search engines remain a significant route to discoverability for sites that have not implemented protections. Ofcom singled out age inference models used by some social media firms as an approach that should not be relied on to underpin future minimum age restrictions, unless the companies can demonstrate through reliable evidence that those models are highly effective.
Regulator asks wider industry to help
Ofcom called for app stores, operating system vendors and device makers to contribute to a stronger whole of system approach, noting that minimum age protections will be more robust if checks and platform-level controls operate across the technology stack rather than depending on a single on service implementation.
The regulator said it will deliver a rapid assessment to Parliament by the end of October on what constitutes a highly effective age check in practice, intended to inform forthcoming parliamentary debate about possible restrictions on social media use by under 16s. Ofcom also signalled continued enforcement where firms do not take action, including formal investigations and fines where duties are not met.
Implications for platforms and users
For major global platforms the message is straightforward, the regulator said: strengthen age assurance, show compelling evidence where novel methods are used, and work with the wider technology ecosystem to reduce routes by which children can access age restricted content. For parents and carers the update is a reminder that regulators are actively pursuing stronger protections, but that gaps persist and that vigilance remains necessary while industry fixes roll out.
What happens next
Ofcom said it will continue to monitor compliance and publish further analysis, including its rapid assessment on highly effective age assurance to inform Parliament. The outcome of the formal investigation into TikTok, together with enforcement actions against services that do not comply, will be watched closely by policymakers, campaigners and the tech industry, since the findings may shape how minimum age restrictions can be implemented and enforced in practice.
