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Written by
UK Team
14th May, 2025

UK Government sets unambiguous direction for a safer online world 

5Rights welcomes the UK Government’s final Statement of Strategic Priorities, which confirms safety by design as a cornerstone of tech regulation. However, more must be done to strengthen regulation and deliver on the Online Safety Act’s ambitions and expectations. 

A wider shot showing a child in a yellow-and-white striped shirt and light blue jeans sitting outdoors, intently looking at and using a smartphone with both hands.

On 8 May 2025, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle MP, published the final version of his department’s Statement of Strategic Priorities for Online Safety (SSP). The document sets out five priorities that Ofcom must consider when fulfilling its regulatory duties and it provides clear direction for the regulator to ensure services are made safe by design for children, increase transparency and anticipate emerging harms, such as those posed by AI systems. 

5Rights, alongside several partners including the NSPCC, Internet Watch Foundation, Barnardo’s and the Molly Rose Foundation launched a campaign in Parliament, welcoming the draft SSP when it was released in November. We were particularly encouraged by the Government’s recognition of safety by design as a key priority. In the final version, the language has been improved to provide a clearer definition of “safety by design”, following input from 5Rights and others in the sector. 

In the final statement, the Government has strengthened the language recognising the crucial role of the regulator in holding the tech sector to account. It also directs Ofcom to hold services accountable for applying their terms of services and to act against small-but-risky services that fail to comply with the regime. 

The SSP’s publication comes as Ofcom releases its latest Media Use and Attitudes report, which details how children in the UK are accessing and experiencing the digital world. The findings show increasing social media usage among young users: 

  • Four in ten (37%) 3-5-year-olds use social media, rising from three in ten (29%) in 2023; 
  • Two-thirds (66%) of 3-17-year-olds watch livestreamed videos, rising from 56% in 2022, with children aged between 8-12-years-old driving this increase; 
  • 16% of 3-17-year-olds livestream their own videos;
  • Half (50%) of 8-17-year-olds say they have used AI, rising from 46% in 2024. 

These figures underline the need for a regulatory regime that moves beyond removing risky content and ensures children are provided with age-appropriate experiences in the digital world. Earlier this year, 5Rights, with its Children’s Coalition for Online Safety, called for Ofcom to set high expectations for the regime and adopt its baseline recommendations to protect children online.  

5Rights remains committed to supporting both the Government and Ofcom to ensure that the Online Safety Act delivers the step change children need and that platforms and services are designed to protect children from harm and enable them to thrive.