UK Government Urged to "Detoxify" Social Media Platforms Amid Child Safety Measures

Strategic Insights -

Online safety campaigners are pressing the UK government to use its powers to regulate social media companies and prevent children from accessing addictive content, following a deadline for tech firms to introduce child safety measures. Beeban Kidron, a crossbench peer and founder of the 5Rights campaign group, has called on the technology secretary to bring forward new codes of conduct on disinformation and features that can lead to addiction.

The Online Safety Act requires companies to introduce child safety measures by 25 July, including age-checking and stringent age verification for sites that allow harmful content. Failure to comply could result in fines of up to 10% of global turnover or even site blocking in the UK.

Key Takeaways:

  • Beeban Kidron, a crossbench peer, has urged the UK government to use the Online Safety Act to bring forward new codes of conduct on disinformation and features that can lead to addiction.
  • The UK government has been urged to "detoxify" social media platforms by Kidron, following a deadline for tech firms to introduce child safety measures.
  • Companies that fail to comply with the act may face fines of up to 10% of global turnover or even be blocked in the UK.
  • 5Rights, a campaign group founded by Kidron, has identified "dopamine-like" measures used by social media platforms, including displaying likes and shares, mobile notifications, and expired content.
  • Online safety campaigners are pressing the UK government to regulate social media companies and prevent children from accessing addictive content.

Statistics:

  • The deadline for tech firms to introduce child safety measures is 25 July.
  • Failure to comply with the act may result in fines of up to 10% of global turnover, equivalent to $16.5bn for Meta.
  • Some tech companies, such as Murdoch, Bluesky, Grindr, and Reddit have committed to age-checking measures.
  • Online safety campaigners are pressing the UK government to use its powers to regulate social media companies and prevent children from accessing addictive content.

Sources:

  • [The Guardian, UK Government urged to "detoxify" addictive social media platforms](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jul/25/uk-government-urged-to-detoxify-addictive-social-media-platforms)
  • [BBC News, UK social media deadline: What does it mean for your smartphone](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-64034655)