UK Regulators Pressure Social Media Giants to Strengthen Age Checks for Children

 

Regulators in the United Kingdom are calling on major social media companies to strengthen their age-verification systems to prevent children under the age of 13 from accessing their platforms.

Media regulator Ofcom and the data protection authority Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have written to several technology companies, urging them to introduce stronger checks to ensure young children are not able to sign up for services that are not designed for them.

The platforms contacted include Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta Platforms, as well as Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Roblox and X.

According to Ofcom, many platforms still rely on users to simply enter their date of birth when creating an account. Regulators say this system is easily bypassed and allows children under 13 to access social media platforms that may expose them to harmful content or data risks.

Research by Ofcom suggests that 86% of children between the ages of 10 and 12 already have their own social media profiles, despite most platforms officially requiring users to be at least 13 years old.

Ofcom’s chief executive, Melanie Dawes, said social media companies must place children’s safety at the center of their platform design.

She explained that while companies have introduced some safety measures, they have not gone far enough to prevent underage users from signing up.

The regulators are now encouraging companies to adopt “highly effective age checks,” similar to the systems already used by online services that provide adult content.

The ICO also raised concerns about how companies handle the personal data of young children. In a statement, the watchdog said platforms that set a minimum age of 13 generally do not have a legal basis to process the personal data of children who are younger than that age.

Meanwhile, the UK government has backed the regulators’ position. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said companies should not wait until they are forced by courts to act responsibly.

“No company should need a court order to protect children online,” she said.

Tech companies respond

Several companies have defended the safety systems already in place.

Google, the parent company of YouTube, said it was surprised by Ofcom’s approach and urged the regulator to focus more on platforms that pose a higher risk to children under the Online Safety Act.

Meta said it already uses artificial intelligence tools and facial age-estimation technology to help detect when users may be underage on Facebook and Instagram.

Meanwhile, Snapchat said it is currently testing new age-verification tools, while TikTok said it uses advanced technology to identify and remove accounts belonging to under-13 users. The company reported removing over 90 million suspected under-13 accounts between October 2024 and September 2025.

Roblox also stated that it has introduced more than 140 new safety features over the past year, including mandatory age checks for players who want to access chat features.

However, experts say stronger measures will still be needed. Digital mental health researcher Amy Orben of the University of Cambridge said online safety must be built directly into platforms rather than added later.

Social media analyst Matt Navarra also warned that verifying age is only the first step. He said platforms must also address the role of recommendation algorithms that can push addictive or harmful content to young users.

According to him, designing platforms that do not exploit children’s attention may be the biggest challenge for the tech industry moving forward.