Protecting Kids Online in the UK – CCDH responds to Ofcom’s Children’s Codes

Updated on July 25, 2025

The UK’s online safety regulator, Ofcom, has started enforcement of its Children’s Code (July 25), which means that social media platforms can now be held accountable for failing to comply with the rules for protecting children online.  

“Now that the enforcement deadline has passed, the first test for Ofcom is to see if they will immediately address the serious systemic and potentially deadly problem we identified. As parents, we expect the government and Ofcom to have our backs and not side with multinational corporations that put profits before people,” our CEO Imran Ahmed said. 

Ofcom consulted CCDH in designing the Codes, with CCDH responding to the regulator’s call for evidence with insights from our research into the dangers kids face on social media. 

These rules are detailed measures that social media platforms and search engines must follow to ensure kids’ safety online. They are part of the long running implementation of the UK’s landmark Online Safety Act (OSA).  

The OSA, passed in 2023, created a digital regulation programme overseen by Ofcom that focusses on identifying and removing illegal content online, protecting children from online harms, and empowering adults with more choice over what they see online.  

CCDH is helping Ofcom protect kids online in the UK

CCDH’s research was instrumental in building the evidence base for Ofcom’s “Protecting Children from Online Harms” Codes of Practice. This included our work on the algorithmic promotion of eating disorder and self-harm content as well as the dangerous lack of safeguards and options to report harmful activity. 

CCDH worked with Ofcom to design the code measures published this Thursday. CCDH’s submission drew on our research and assessed Ofcom’s proposals, highlighting positive steps and drawing attention to areas where more work was needed.  

Our submission can be viewed here. 

CCDH has supported the Online Safety Act since its inception. In September 2021, our CEO Imran Ahmed was the first witness before the bill’s parliamentary committee.  

CCDH then led a campaign to strengthen a gap in the proposed legislation over data access for researchers. As a result of our campaign, the bill was amended, requiring Ofcom to publish a report on the barriers independent researchers (like CCDH) face in conducting online safety research.  

When the Act received Royal Assent, in October 2023, our CEO was asked to join other online safety leaders in celebrating its passage with then-Secretary of State.

Our letter to the UK government and Ofcom

To underline the importance of increased protections, CCDH joined 5Rights, other children’s rights organisations, and bereaved parents in a letter to the UK government and Ofcom, demanding continual improvements and no compromises over kid’s safety.  

See all of CCDH’s research into children’s online safety here.  

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