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UK's Online Safety Act has made 'absolutely no difference,' kids say

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UK's Online Safety Act has made 'absolutely no difference,' kids say

England's Children's Commissioner told lawmakers that the UK's Online Safety Act has had no measurable impact on children's access to harmful content over a year after key protections took effect. She criticized the legislation for focusing on content moderation rather than addressing addictive platform design features, and said Ofcom, the regulator, has not been aggressive enough in enforcing compliance or anticipating emerging harms like artificial intelligence (AI) and image-based abuse tools. She called for stronger enforcement, larger fines, and greater transparency from Ofcom regarding tech companies' safety risk assessments.

Why it matters: UK security and policy leaders need to understand that current regulatory approaches are not achieving child safety outcomes comparable to US legal pressure, and that legislative reform and regulator empowerment may be necessary to address platform design harms and emerging AI risks.

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