Latest Research shows little change since Online Safety Act
Half (47%) of girls and a third of all teens aged 13 to 17 saw high risk suicide, self-harm and eating disorder content in a week, our major new research shows.
The findings show exposure to harmful content has barely changed since the Online Safety Act came into force. We have repeatedly warned this was inevitable given Ofcom’s unambitious approach to regulation and the Prime Minister’s reluctance to fix structural weaknesses in the Act.
Today Ian Russell says the Prime Minister must now make a choice between a flawed social media ban that evidence suggests will quickly unravel or finally tackling the algorithms and product safety issues that took his daughter Molly’s life.
The research shows:
Ian Russell, Chair of Molly Rose Foundation, said: “It is shocking but sadly unsurprising that millions of teens continue to be shown appalling suicide, self-harm and depression content by out-of-control algorithms.
“We’ve repeatedly warned that weak implementation of the Online Safety Act would leave preventable harm unchecked, and regrettably this research endorses these warnings.
“Keir Starmer now needs to make a choice between a politically expedient blanket ban that the evidence says will quickly fail or finally addressing the product safety risks that cost my daughter Molly’s life.”
Andy Burrows, Chief Executive of Molly Rose Foundation, said: “It is frankly outrageous that teens continue to face preventable harm because cavalier platforms like TikTok continue to use high risk design features and the Government and Ofcom has chosen to look the other way.
“We’re now at an inflection point where either the Prime Minister starts listening to experts and evidence or he crosses his fingers and hopes for the best with a gamble on an Australian-style ban.
“If he pushes ahead with a ban that quickly falls apart, parents will rightly wonder why the Government chose a course of action that most experts don’t have confidence in and the evidence doesn’t support.”
We are gravely concerned that an Australian-style social media ban will fail to address the fundamental product safety issues highlighted in this research. Multiple studies have shown that at least 60% of under 16s continue to use prohibited social networks, including 53% on TikTok.
Unless the Government has evidence that a similar ban can work effectively in the UK, access restrictions will fail to protect teens. If a majority of under 16s retain access to their accounts, but social media platforms are let ‘off the hook’ for addressing these product safety issues, children will continue to face precisely the same risks – and they may even get worse.
We have repeatedly warned that Ofcom’s weak enforcement of the Online Safety Act would fail to tackle the tsunami of harmful content being recommended to teens.
However, Ofcom and the Government have chosen not to act effectively.
We urge the Prime Minister to take decisive action today to address safety risks at the heart of social media platforms, including banning personalised algorithms for children unless strict safety conditions are met.
This means that platforms would be banned from serving personalised content, such as on TikTok’s For You Page, to under-16s unless:
Molly Rose Foundation has warned that failing to address safety risks and implement safety-by-design restrictions, in favour of a high stakes gamble on a flawed Australian-style ban, will not address the root causes of harm and leave children at continued risk on harmful platforms.
Ofcom is also being pressed to act urgently to open an immediate investigation into TikTok after the European Commission found the company in provisional breach of its rules.
Ofcom has so far decided not to formally investigate despite being shared evidence by us of appalling safety breaches, including TikTok recommending new suicide methods, and the platform declining to take action after being questioned earlier this year.