Ofcom is cracking down on Instagram, YouTube and 150,000 other web services to improve child safety online. A new Children’s Safety Code from the U.K. Internet regulator will push tech firms to run better age checks, filter and downrank content, and apply around 40 other steps to assess harmful content around subjects like suicide, self harm and pornography, to reduce under-18’s access to it. Currently in draft form and open for feedback until July 17, enforcement of the Code is expected to kick in next year after Ofcom publishes the final in the spring. Firms will have three months to get their inaugural child safety risk assessments done after the final Children’s Safety Code is published.
The Code is significant because it could force a step-change in how Internet companies approach online safety. The government has repeatedly said it wants the U.K. to be the safest place…
