Internet: Children
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made an assessment of the online services where eight to 14-year-olds are most likely to encounter harmful content.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan
Children’s safety and wellbeing online is the Secretary of State’s top priority. That is why we published the ‘Growing up in the Online World’ consultation, accompanied by a National Conversation on 2 March 2026.
The government published a progress report on the consultation on 15 June, outlining plans to restrict social media services from providing access to under 16s alongside restrictions on functionalities for wider services. Further details will be published in July.
In May 2026, Ofcom published a report on children’s use of online services, including on which platforms children encountered harmful content. Ofcom’s research continues to inform the government’s next steps for online safety.
Where Ofcom has concerns that significant numbers of children are at risk of harm on a service, the government expects them to act. Ofcom has significant enforcement powers at its disposal when a service does not comply with the Act’s requirement and has the government’s full support to use the complete range of these powers.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →