Ofcom admits UK online safety laws failed children
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The gist
UK communications regulator Ofcom said child exposure to harmful online content showed no significant change in the law's first nine months.
The admission puts pressure on the 2023 Online Safety Act and its planned expansion.
Background
Ofcom is the U.K. communications regulator. The Online Safety Act is a 2023 law requiring companies operating in the U.K. to stop children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and to give parents and children clear ways to report problems. Its child-safety duties took effect in July 2025, and Ofcom has now reviewed the first nine months of the regime, assessing whether the government should change the law's content categories.
How it unfolded
- Jul 2025The children's safety duties under the Online Safety Act came into force.
- Sep 2025Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot; some children said they were affected after seeing footage of his death.
- Oct 23, 2026Ofcom released a report assessing whether the government should change the content categories of the 2023 Online Safety Act.
- Oct 24, 2026Forbes reported Ofcom had admitted its efforts to protect children from harmful content had achieved nothing, and The Standard reported the measures had not significantly changed the amount of harm children suffer.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Ofcom called the finding concerning and said further progress is needed to protect children online.
- Campaigners
- Campaigners called the lack of progress staggering.
- Analysts
- Forbes wrote that Ofcom had admitted its efforts to protect children from harmful content had achieved precisely nothing.
- Analysts
- Reason said the report says little about age-gating concerns for adults and that its own findings highlight the act's underwhelming results.