Online safety regulations fail to protect children online, Ofcom admits

Britain's online regulator admits safety laws have failed to protect children from social media harm.

Britain's online regulator has acknowledged that recent statutory measures have failed to reduce the proportion of children experiencing harm on social media platforms. The Online Safety Act established new duties in July 2025 to shield minors and adults from dangerous digital material. Campaigners have described the lack of measurable progress over the initial nine months as staggering.

• The timelineDuties under the legislation took effect in July 2025.
• The reactionCampaigners characterised the absence of progress as staggering.
• The assessmentThe communications regulator reviewed the first nine months of the new enforcement regime.