Have your say on a safer online world

While the Online Safety Act means platforms must now check which users are over 18 to access pornography and harmful content, we need to go much further.

We want to see platforms set risk-based age limits for children – like we see with film ratings. And we’re calling for these age limits to be properly enforced, with tech companies being required to use highly effective age assurance to protect children from using sites that aren’t suitable for them. If existing age limits were enforced effectively right now, 2.5 million children under the age of 13 would instantly be better protected.

Features like infinite scrolling, addictive algorithms and auto-playing videos are having a huge impact on children. In fact, children often tell us that feeling addicted to their phones is a huge worry and they want to see this change.

For too long, tech companies have prioritised their growth and engagement over the wellbeing of children. Banning the design tricks that keep young people glued to devices will help to create a healthier relationship with all online spaces, not just social media.

In 2025, police forces logged almost 37,000 child sexual abuse image crimes across the UK. That number has been rising, and many more cases are likely to go unreported.

Technology to block illegal images in real time already exists and must be built in as standard on children’s phones and devices to help stop them from receiving, viewing or sending nude images. Alongside this, children must be protected from receiving dangerous or misleading information by AI chatbots.