Blocking explicit content for children is welcome – but the real problem is the business model
5Rights welcomes UK action on children’s online safety but calls for wider reform of tech business models.
5Rights Foundation has welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement that technology companies will be given three months to strengthen protections preventing children from seeing or sharing explicit content, including through harmful AI-powered “nudification” tools.
The announcement signals a recognition that children’s safety must be built into the technologies they use every day, rather than relying on children and parents to navigate risks alone. Measures that make devices safer by default are an important step towards creating a digital environment that better protects children from harm.
However, 5Rights warned that focusing solely on individual features or tools will not be enough to address the broader challenges children face online.
Collette Collins-Walsh, Head of UK Affairs at 5Rights Foundation, said:
“Anything that makes digital services safer for children is welcome, but we need to move away from policing kids and start policing the harmful systems of tech companies which prioritise engagement and profit over children’s safety.
“If the Government is serious about making the online world safer for children, their focus should be on enforcing mandatory, comprehensive and systematic change that will detoxify the environments where kids spend time – just as we would offline. We must tackle the tech business model which is driving unacceptable harm.”
It is expected that the Government will soon set out further proposals on children and technology. 5Rights is calling for these measures to address the systemic drivers of harm online, including business models that incentivise excessive engagement, the collection and use of children’s data, and design practices that expose children to inappropriate content and experiences.
