Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (): Today, I am laying in
Parliament Ofcom's draft codes of practice for child safety
duties under the Online Safety Act, setting out the statutory
duties providers face and the measures they must take to fulfil
them.
We are in the midst of an epidemic in online harm. Young people
are exposed to a slew of horrific content on the sites that many
of them use every day. The consequences can be devastating, from
pornography that cruelly warps their expectations of healthy
relationships to content which encourages, promotes or provides
instructions for self-harm, suicide or eating disorders. Parents
trying to protect their children may not understand what is going
on behind their bedroom doors or find themselves powerless to
stop it.
Today, that changes. Building on the illegal codes which came
into force last month, the draft codes of practice are some of
the most far-reaching protections in the world. For the first
time, platforms will have to prioritise children's safety by law,
protecting children in the UK from seeing content including
pornography, violent content, or that which promotes self-harm,
suicide or eating disorders.
We know that harm is happening to children right now. If we are
to safeguard healthier, happier childhoods for our young people,
we cannot afford to hesitate in protecting them. From today,
services will have three months to assess the risk of harm their
services pose to children. Once the codes have gone through the
parliamentary process, Ofcom must issue them. The relevant duties
will come into force 21 calendar days later, and Ofcom will be
able to enforce against non-compliance. By summer, the child
online safety regime will be fully in force.
I know that Ofcom is prepared to make full use of its powers
under the Act. After the illegal codes of practice came into
force last month, Ofcom swiftly opened several enforcement
programmes to assess industry compliance. In the months to come,
I expect them to build on the strong precedent they have set.
When the lives of our children are at stake, we must be
relentless in our efforts to protect them.
Once in force, the codes will change young people's lives for the
better, protecting happy, healthy childhoods from the kind of
horrific content that too often cuts them short. This is a
landmark moment, but it is not the endpoint of our efforts to
protect children online. The rapid change that has characterised
the last decade of the digital age shows no signs of slowing
down, bringing with it extraordinary opportunities and grave new
risks. In this context, we will act swifty if our laws continue
to fall short. These codes are the foundation for child safety,
not the limit, and Ofcom has already announced plans to launch a
consultation in spring 2025 on additional measures.
For now, though, the message to industry is clear. You must act
now to protect children using your services. If you fail to do
so, Ofcom will not hesitate to enforce the law.
