Protecting children

Ofcom has been conducting research to understand children’s experiences of communications online, including any uncomfortable or unwanted contact and receiving sexualised messages.

Ofcom has been consulting with children to find out what they think about Ofcom’s proposals to improve online safety.

Research to understand to what extend children are bypassing age assurance measures.

This online trial tested different ways to encourage children to access age-appropriate user support materials (or help centre) during the sign-up process of a mock social media platform.

This research was designed to better understand the experiences of and attitudes towards reporting among children who use social media and/or video-sharing platforms.

This review builds Ofcom's understanding of children and young people's development stages, and how this interacts with their online decision making and behaviour.

This research explores the pathways through which children encounter violent content online, the impact this can have, and perceptions and use of safety measures.

This research explores the pathways through which children encounter content related to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, the impact this can have, and perceptions of safety measures.

This research explores the pathways through which children are exposed to cyberbullying, the impact this can have, and perceptions of what works to address cyberbullying.

How TikTok, Twitch and Snap try to prevent children from watching potentially harmful videos.