New Age-Verification Guidelines for Social Media Use Among Under-16s Introduced

Meta and other leading technology firms are advocating for age verification processes to be implemented at the device level. This would ensure that users under a certain age are automatically restricted from downloading social media applications from app stores.

This shift in responsibility would primarily affect Apple and Google, the two tech giants that dominate the global smartphone market. Notably, Apple has already taken steps to introduce such age verification measures in the UK.

However, the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has clarified that social media platforms would not be released from their obligation to conduct additional age checks. The regulator acknowledged it does not have a precise estimate of how many adult users would need to verify their age, but it admitted that this could involve a “large number of accounts” for social media companies to manage.

Ofcom further recognized that the risk of age verification methods being circumvented cannot be entirely eliminated, meaning some underage users may still find ways to bypass these checks.

Dawes, a representative from Ofcom, emphasized that enforcing age restrictions will require a collaborative effort. “At Ofcom, our role is to ensure that social media companies implement the checks they are required to,” she explained in an interview with BBC News. “However, the broader question of how society engages with this issue really falls on all of us.”

Dawes also highlighted the importance of changing cultural norms, expressing hope that today’s eight to ten-year-olds will enter secondary school without using platforms like Snapchat or organizing sports events via Instagram as common practices.

Ofcom’s report on age verification will be reviewed by the government, with a decision anticipated by the end of the year.