Ofcom announced an online crackdown on 'toxic algorithms' to protect children online. But the new code will take more than a year to introduce and tech platforms are being urged to act now
Ofcom announced an online crackdown on 'toxic algorithms' to protect children online. But the new code will take more than a year to introduce and tech platforms are being urged to act nowNew rules requiring tech giants to tame their “toxic algorithms” or face billion pound fines may not come into force for more than a year.
The father of Molly Russell, the 14 year-old who took her life after seeing harmful web content, warned that delays to an online crackdown will cost lives. Ian Russell said: “The cost of being slow is paid in young human lives.” “Left unchecked, they risk serving up large volumes of unsolicited, dangerous content to children in their personalised news feeds or ‘For You’ pages,” the regulator said. “The cumulative effect of viewing this harmful content can have devasting consequences.”
Children must also be able to “provide negative feedback directly to the recommender feed, so it can better learn what content they don’t want to see”. Technology Secretary Ms Donelan said: “I want to assure parents that protecting children is our number one priority and these laws will help keep their families safe.”
Certain types of harmful content are no longer automatically available to children on Twitch, while the strictly over-18s OnlyFans platform requires a user’s full name and bank details, and also uses facial age estimation technology.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
TikTok to launch photo app 'Notes' to rival Instagram - and it's coming 'soon'TikTok Notes will be coming to our phone very soon - and it looks like it could rival Instagram.
Read more »
Christy Turlington, 55, shows endless legs and cleavage as she models slashed dress and high heels...England star Mason Mount’s ‘mystery woman’ revealed as gorgeous Instagram model and TikTok star
Read more »
Tech firms must ‘tame aggressive algorithms’ under Ofcom online safety rulesThe regulator has published its latest draft code of practice on how social media sites must protect children under the Online Safety Act.
Read more »
Tech firms must ‘tame aggressive algorithms’ under Ofcom online safety rulesThe regulator has published its latest draft code of practice on how social media sites must protect children under the Online Safety Act.
Read more »
Ofcom issues rule change for ITVX, Channel 4, Amazon Prime Video and Now TVOfcom has issued new rules to Amazon, Channel 4, ITVX and Now TV
Read more »
Ofcom investigates whether David Lammy's show breached rules on politicians as news presentersThe communications regulator is investigating whether Mr Lammy's show broke its rules on politicians acting as news presenters. Ofcom received 51 complaints about the show that aired on Good Friday, in which Mr Lammy delivered the news.
Read more »