A new survey by Ofcom, the UK media regulator, has revealed that 22% of children aged 8 to 17 lie about their age online, pretending to be 18 or older on social media.
This is despite the UK’s new Online Safety Act (OSA), which aims to improve age checks on these platforms, set to take effect in 2025.
Ofcom has warned social media companies they will face fines if they don’t take stronger action to ensure children’s safety online, especially since pretending to be an adult puts kids at risk of harmful content.
The survey found that many teens find it easy to bypass age checks. One 15-year-old girl, Myley, shared that she just “scrolls ten years back” when entering her birth year, while another teen, Haniya, pointed out that no platforms ask for ID.
The BBC also found that when they tested major platforms, no verification was requested for adult age entries.
This is a concern, especially after the tragic deaths of teens Molly Russell and Brianna Ghey, which led to the creation of the OSA. From July 2025, social media companies will have to implement “effective age assurance” to protect children from harmful content.
However, Ofcom’s Ian Mccrae stressed that self-declaration of age is not enough, and companies need to do much more to verify users’ ages.
The Molly Rose Foundation, created in memory of Molly Russell, called the results of the survey “shocking” and warned that many children won’t be protected from dangerous content unless tech companies enforce stronger age checks.
Some tech companies, like TikTok, have announced efforts to improve age verification, but others, like Meta and X (formerly Twitter), did not comment.
The issue of online safety for children is growing more urgent, with some governments, like in Australia, even considering banning social media for under-16s.
As the UK prepares to strengthen the OSA, the pressure is on to protect children from the dangers of online content. BBC has more on this developing issue.
Credit : BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4v52ezx17o