Ofcom has published a series of rules designed to protect children who use social media platforms.
They dictate children should not be “presented with lists of suggested friends” and should not appear in such lists shown to other people either.
Ofcom says children should not be visible in “connection lists”, which we can take to mean friends lists, and that their own list of connections should not be visible to others.
These amount to children’s accounts operating as islands that can’t be accessed or seen by people outside of their existing online connections, most likely their friends and family.
Ofcom says strangers should not be able to send them direct messages, and that their location information should not be visible.
Comparable privacy controls are typically accessible to all users in the most popular social networks, but will generally not be switched on by default.
Ofcom has backed these guidelines with research that suggests 30 per cent of children aged 11 to 18 have received an “unwanted friend or follow request".
"Our figures show that most secondary-school children have been contacted online in a way that potentially makes them feel uncomfortable,” says Ofcom chief executive Melanie Dawes.
“For many, it happens repeatedly. If these unwanted approaches occurred so often in the outside world, most parents would hardly want their children to leave the house. Yet somehow, in the online space, they have become almost routine.”
Most social networks already have limitations and restrictions for younger users. The minimum age for TikTok users is 13, while direct messaging is only available to those aged 16 and older.
Its Family Pairing feature also lets a parent control how much a child’s account can be accessed, and whether their profile is private, among other factors.
Ofcom’s guidelines are currently published in a draft form. It says that, once they have been finalised following consultation with “a range of experts”, they “will form the basis of pioneering online safety regulation in the UK".
However, thanks to the huge range of services they could impact, these guidelines are not prescriptive. “Companies can choose a different approach to meeting their duties, depending on the nature of their service and the technology they want to deploy. But firms that implement our Codes will know they are compliant with their safety duties,” says Ofcom.
In other words, social platforms do not have to follow Ofcom's word to the letter. But, by doing so, they can be sure they won't be in breach of the law, and subject to a great big fine. Ofcom has the power to dole out fines of 10 per cent of companies' global turnover or £18 million, whichever is larger.
These proposals tie in with the Online Safety Bill, which passed into law after receiving royal assent on October 26.
More information on the draft proposals for Ofcom’s guidelines are available to read at the Ofcom website.
