Ofcom, the UK's online safety regulator, has found that strict requirements introduced in July 2025 to protect children on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram produced no measurable improvement. At a total level, it said, "there was no significant change in the proportion of children encountering harmful content" over the first nine months the duties were in force, adding that there was no evidence of a change in the severity of harm.
The regulator called the finding "concerning". Personalised "for you" recommendation feeds were repeatedly found to be at the root of the continuing flow of harmful material. Examples cited included children being shown the murder of Charlie Kirk, graphic pornography and weapon-related content that made them feel unsafe in their schools and neighbourhoods. Pornographic content was most commonly encountered through personalised feeds, with girls in particular reporting feeling confused or upset, and suicide and eating disorder content was also driven mostly through personal feeds. Ofcom also found that boys consuming motivational content "can rapidly become exposed to more extreme content which includes the promotion of misogyny and racism".
The review arrives a week after a coroner concluded that access to suicide-related material on TikTok may have played a significant part in a teenager's death.
Rani Govender, head of child safety online at the NSPCC, said progress was "not happening nearly fast enough". "Tech companies have had months to act, yet too many platforms are still built to keep children hooked with their algorithms continuing to push harmful content to their young users," she said. "We urgently need stronger action from tech companies to rein in features that drive harm to children and stop putting business interests over their safety obligations."
Ian Russell called the lack of progress "staggering but sadly not surprising", and said it was time Ofcom "stood up for children and investigated the major flaws in TikTok and Instagram's design features, not just small technicalities".
Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes told MPs this week: "We do not see a safety culture from these large social media companies." The regulator faces legal challenges from Meta, TikTok and X over its powers.
An Ofcom spokesperson said the industry had been "unregulated and unaccountable for more than 20 years", pointed to "significant progress" including age checks and tougher safeguards against grooming and child sexual exploitation, and said firms that do not comply "can expect enforcement action". It said it recorded some reductions in harmful content on platforms including Minecraft, Call of Duty, YouTube, Pinterest and Facebook, and that its data did not cover the period from this spring when it stepped up pressure on major platforms. In July it launched an investigation into TikTok over child safety concerns.
The review precedes a planned Australia-style ban on under-16s using social media, due from next spring and covering platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and X, but not messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal. Mitali Sud, senior policy manager at Internet Matters, warned the ban must not overshadow enforcement of the act. "Children will continue to face risks on services covered by the act but not the proposed ban, including gaming and messaging platforms," she said.
A government spokesperson said platforms had "both a moral and legal duty to protect children" and pointed to the upcoming ban as well as protections against harmful functionalities such as livestreaming.
In Australia, crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.