Social media firms will be required to introduce robust checks, including the use of photo ID such as passports, to identify children using their sites and protect them from harm online.
Children face being kicked off social media under plans for tough new age checks unveiled by Ofcom, the regulator, on Wednesday.
Tech firms that fail to comply with the new regime, set out in a proposed Ofcom code of practice, will face fines worth up to 10 per cent of their global turnover – equivalent to £11 billion for a company such as Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. “They go even further, seeking to understand the impact of addictive features like ‘infinite scrolling’ feeds, addressing the devastating effects of damaging algorithms that – little by little – increase the harms to which our children are exposed.”
Ofcom chief executive Melanie Dawes said companies would need to “tame aggressive algorithms” that pushed harmful content to children and introduce age checks to ensure that children only saw content suitable to their ages. Ofcom said: “In some cases, this will mean preventing children from accessing the entire site or app. In others, it might mean age-restricting parts of their site or app for adults-only access, or restricting children’s access to identified harmful content.”
Ofcom research shows social media use increases with age from 34 per cent of children aged three to seven, 63 per cent of eight to 11-year-olds, 92 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds and 95 per cent of 16- to 17-year-olds.
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