United Kingdom
5Rights leads innovation in digital policy, ensuring children and young people in the UK feel safe and empowered online.
Overview
The UK, where 5Rights was founded, has pioneered digital regulation for children. It introduced the world’s first enforceable Age Appropriate Design Code in 2020, followed by the Online Safety Act in 2023, making it a key testing ground for policy innovation and implementation.
“A perfect digital world should be focused on online safety of the content. Every child should be informed about the type of content before they access it”
William, 15
Children’s experiences
Almost all 3-17-year-olds go online in the UK, mostly to watch videos, play video games, send messages to their friends and stay connected via social media. Nearly half of 11-year-olds who go online have a social media profile, despite a minimum age requirement of 13 for most social media sites. While watching videos, children are exposed to many advertisements and encouraged to spend cash as they are playing online games. Grooming cases and self-generated child sexual imagery are also on the rise, especially for younger children. 5Rights works hard to advocate that digital spaces likely to be accessed by children provide them with content and experiences appropriate to their age and evolving capacities.
Our work in the UK
5Rights works closely with policy makers and regulators and leads the work of the Children’s Coalition for Online Safety. We also partner with Bereaved Families for Online Safety to keep children’s online safety at the forefront of the political agenda. In partnership with the London School of Economics, 5Rights launched the Digital Futures for Children centre, dedicated to researching a rights-respecting digital world for children.
As part of our joint work with the Digital Futures for Children Centre, we are launching the Better EdTech Futures for Children project, which brings together young people across the UK to explore how technology and AI are shaping the classroom and to advocate for a more rights-respecting digital learning environment.
Join our EdTech Youth Advisory Board!
Stand up for children’s rights in the digital classroom! If you’re aged 13–17 and based in the UK, join the 5Rights EdTech Youth Advisory Board — part of our Better EdTech Futures for Children project — to shape research, influence policy, and ensure tech in schools works for students, not against them. Apply by Friday 15 August at 23:59!
In focus
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Why children need the Online Safety Act: protecting children in a digital wild west
With online grooming crimes in the UK surging 89% and a quarter of children exposed to pornography by age 11, now is not the time to take a step back on online safety.
New research reveals how children face financial harm online
New study published by the UK regulator Ofcom reinforces the urgent need for effective regulation of loot boxes, in-app purchases and other persuasive design strategies that exploit children’s vulnerabilities and drive them to spend money online.
5Rights UK Youth Ambassadors celebrate new online safety laws and call for the next chapter in building a better digital world
From today, it is illegal in the UK for tech companies to allow children access to pornography and expose them to other harmful content in their recommender feeds. 5Rights spoke to its UK Youth Ambassadors about the changes and their vision for what must come next.
Inquiry finds UK Government must regulate GenAI and close online safety loopholes
The UK Parliament’s Science, Innovation and Technology Committee urges the Government to regulate generative AI tools and close critical gaps in online safety regulation, echoing calls from 5Rights and civil society.