Ofcom admits Online Safety Act has not reduced harm to UK children

Ofcom has told the UK government that landmark child protection measures under the Online Safety Act have failed to reduce the proportion of children encountering harmful content online, nine months after the rules came into force.

The regulator's review, shared with Digital Secretary Lisa Nandy, found no significant change in children's exposure to material including graphic pornography, serious violence, suicide content, racism and bullying since specific platform duties took effect in July 2025. Ofcom described the finding as "concerning" and said there was no evidence the severity of harm had diminished.

The assessment covered children aged eight to seventeen across user-to-user platforms including TikTok and Instagram. Ofcom identified personalised recommendation algorithms as the persistent driver of harmful exposure. The NSPCC called the lack of progress "staggering".

The review was published one week after a coroner found that suicide-related content on TikTok may have contributed to the death of Adriana Retyte, a fourteen-year-old in Norfolk.

Platforms operating under the Online Safety Act face fresh regulatory pressure to demonstrate algorithmic changes produce measurable outcomes rather than process compliance. Whether Ofcom moves toward enforcement action or revised duties now depends on how Nandy responds to the review.

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James Harrington

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Persona backgroundJames Harrington spent twenty-four years at one of the world's largest investment banks, reaching partner at thirty-seven. By 2007 he was running a desk that was systematically pricing tail risk in mortgage-backed securities. He was right for eighteen months before the crisis arrived.