TikTok and YouTube 'not safe enough' for kids, says Ofcom

Britain's communications regulator has singled out TikTok and YouTube as falling short on protecting young users, concluding in a fresh assessment that the automated recommendation systems feeding content to children on both platforms do not offer adequate safeguards. Ofcom's review centres on how algorithmically curated feeds continue to expose younger audiences to material the watchdog considers inappropriate, despite years of promises from platforms to tighten their defences.

YouTube pushed back on the characterization, telling reporters it consults with outside specialists to shape experiences suited to different age groups. TikTok likewise rejected the framing, saying it was let down that the regulator's findings did not give credit to the protective tools it has already rolled out for younger users. Neither company disputed the substance of Ofcom's concerns outright, but both maintained that meaningful safety infrastructure is already in place.

The assessment lands amid a broader regulatory push in the UK to tighten protections for children online. Ofcom has been pressing platforms for months to go further than existing rules require, arguing that voluntary commitments and current safeguards have not kept pace with the risks young people face on social media and video-sharing services.

As part of that wider effort, the regulator disclosed that three other major platforms — Meta, Snap and Roblox — have each committed to bolstering their defences against grooming behaviour on their services. These pledges suggest Ofcom has been negotiating directly with individual companies rather than relying solely on blanket industry standards, applying pressure on a platform-by-platform basis where it sees the most acute risks to minors.

Separately, Ofcom flagged a more specific worry: that age-verification systems across these platforms are not reliably keeping children below the minimum sign-up age off the services in the first place. The regulator said it intends to pass these concerns directly to ministers, effectively escalating an enforcement question into a policy one.

That handoff carries particular weight because the government is currently running a public consultation examining whether social media access should be barred outright for anyone under 16, an idea that has gained traction following mounting concern over children's mental health and online safety. That consultation window is due to close shortly, meaning Ofcom's findings could feed directly into ministers' deliberations at a decisive moment.

The dispute over whether existing safety tools are sufficient underscores a persistent tension between regulators and platforms: companies tend to point to features already built and deployed, while watchdogs argue that the practical outcomes for children using these services still fall short. With ministers weighing more drastic measures such as an under-16 ban, the coming weeks are likely to determine whether the UK opts for tighter enforcement of current rules or a fundamentally stricter legal age threshold for social media use.

Source: BBC Technology