
Holes not fixed: UK regulator publishes final proposals for tackling illegal harm online
Ofcom has published its final proposal for the Illegal Harms Code, and in its current iteration, it will fail to utilise the Online Safety Act to best protect children online.

US elections: bipartisan support for youth online privacy and safety must continue
As the US prepares to enter a new legislative term, 5Rights calls for continued bipartisan support to advance children’s and teens’ privacy and safety online.

TikTok knows it is harming children
Internal TikTok documents reveal the company is promoting addictive design and targeting children, in full consciousness of the harms of its product

Child online safety at the centre of discussions in Canada
5Rights addressed Canada’s legislative efforts on children’s digital safety at a Toronto conference, emphasising global best practices and the importance of privacy and safety by design.

Supporting families globally: our work with The Parents’ Network
5Rights is partnering with Archewell’s Parents’ Network to work with families of children severely impacted by online harms to call for online spaces to be designed with the needs and rights of children in mind.

UK Children’s Safety Code must hold tech companies to account
Ofcom draft Children’s Safety Code’s lack of consideration for safety by design means that, without a serious review, it will fail to protect children.

Children’s Coalition sets the bar for Ofcom’s Safety Code
The Children’s Coalition, led by 5Rights, sets requirements for Ofcom’s Code of Practice to ensure the Online Safety Act effectively protects children online.

Ofcom must rethink Online Safety Act illegal harms Code of Practice
While acknowledging the scale of the task of implementing the Online Safety Act, 5Rights regrets that Ofcom’s proposal falls short of what is needed to deliver on the promises of the Act.

5Rights welcomes Data Bill changes on access to data for child inquests
Following work by 5Rights and Baroness Kidron, UK law now allows coroners to access data from tech companies in cases involving the death of a child, enhancing transparency and supporting bereaved families.
![This morning (15 December) the families wrote to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak MP, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan MP, and the Lord Chancellor, Alex Chalk MP, to express their dismay at these changes: “We are devastated to find out… that despite personal promises made to us in private meetings and assurances made at the despatch box to Baroness Kidron, that the Government has – after the fact – placed limits on the agreed route. This is a betrayal. “Our children died in different ways and in different circumstances relating to the digital world. The tragedy for each of us remains and we all share the need to understand more about their deaths, however they died.” 5Rights founder and Chair, Baroness Beeban Kidron OBE, who laid the original amendments to the Online Safety Act which allowed for these provisions, said: “I join the Bereaved Families for Online Safety in their dismay that the Government has not kept to their word. We were promised that data that was relevant to the death of a child would be in scope. Narrowing it to those who take their own life misunderstands the complexity of the cases that have come forward, and breaks commitments made at the despatch boxes in both Houses… they [government] have a moral duty to put this right and it is a sad day for Parliament if promises made in September from the despatch box are undermined by December.” Officially passed in October, the Online Safety Act (OSA) introduced a humane route for parents and coroners to access data from tech companies in the event a child has died and there is reasonable suspicion that the information is relevant to their death. However, the Government recently tabled amendments to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill which would water-down this provision to only include cases where a coroner suspects a child has taken their own life. This narrows the original intention of this measure and would leave cases where a child has been murdered, for example, out of scope. The amendment is contrary to personal promises made to the families and assurances given to parliamentarians throughout passage of the OSA. The original provisions would have given the coroner freedom to consider how the data might help their investigations in all cases. The letter was signed by the group which includes, Lisa Kenevan, mother of Isaac Kenevan; Lorin LaFave, mother of Breck Bednar; Amanda and Stuart Stephens, parents of Olly Stephens; Hollie Dance, mother of Archie Battersbee; Ian Russell, father of Molly Russell; Ruth Moss, mother of Sophie Parkinson; Liam Walsh, father of Maia Walsh; and Mariano Janin, father of Mia Janin. The families, who came together following a shared tragedy of having lost children due to exposure to online harms, campaigned heavily for the Online Safety Act to include these measures following their own difficulties accessing information.](https://5rightsfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/5Rights-Supports-Bereaved-Families-in-Online-Safety-Act-Appeal-800x600.png)
5Rights Supports Bereaved Families in Online Safety Act Appeal
5Rights Foundation stands with bereaved families, urging the government to uphold promises made during the Online Safety Act, as recent amendments threaten to narrow its protective scope.

UK’s child online safety laws explored in new 5Rights report
5Rights Foundation releases a detailed legal analysis as part of a campaign with Dove on how the Online Safety Act builds on the UK’s regulatory ecosystem for children online.

Lessons from the UK’s Design Code: children’s privacy and expression
5Rights Trustee, Liz Denham, and Steve Wood, Founder of PrivacyX, consider how the UK’s Age-Appropriate Design Code navigates the balance between children’s privacy perspectives and freedom of expression.