LONDON—Ofcom, the United Kingdom's digital regulator, urged technology firms Thursday to start implementing age verification or face penalties under the Online Safety Act.
The announcement was made amid ongoing efforts to age-gate the internet not just in the U.K. but also in Western European countries, Australia and the United States.
According to Ofcom's statement, the agency notified government relations and compliance staff at the parent companies of Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, with a deadline of April 30, to report on the progress of deploying age verification measures.
The agency intends to report on how these companies respond and comply.
Dame Melanie Dawes, chief executive of Ofcom, warned, "These online services are household names, but they’re failing to put children’s safety at the heart of their products. There is a gap between what tech companies promise in private and what they’re doing publicly to keep children safe on their platforms."
Dawes added, "Without the right protections, like effective age checks, children have been routinely exposed to risks they didn’t choose, on services they can’t realistically avoid. That must now change quickly, or Ofcom will act.”
There are four demands that Dawes outlined to the targeted tech platforms.
The demands include, first, "effective minimum-age policies," second, "failsafe grooming protections," third, "safer feeds for children," and fourth, "an end to product testing on children." All of this contributes to the Online Safety Act's requirements to implement "age-appropriate design" and prevent minors from platform access.
Chris Sherwood, the chief executive officer of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), added in the same statement, "For too long, social media giants have looked the other way while harmful and addictive content floods children’s feeds, undermining their safety and wellbeing.
"That’s why Ofcom’s demand for far greater transparency about the risks children face online, and how tech companies plan to protect them, is absolutely essential," Sherwood said. "We’ve long called for minimum age limits to be properly enforced on social media, so it’s encouraging to see Ofcom confront this head-on."
Ofcom's demands also come amid the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) publishing a letter to "social media and video sharing platforms operating in the U.K."
The letter reads, "We understand that most services are relying on self-declaration to identify whether children are 13 or over, with a limited number also utilising some form of profiling to enforce minimum age requirements.
"As currently deployed, we don’t think that these tools are effective and therefore they should not continue to be relied upon to prevent access to under-13s."
ICO's letter was signed by Paul Arnold, the chief executive of the agency, which is tasked with upholding "information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies, and data privacy for individuals."
All of these demands come days after lawmakers in Parliament declined to adopt an Australia-style social media ban for all users under the age of 16.
