The U.S. and U.K. governments announced Thursday they will set up a joint children’s online safety working group to cooperate on safeguarding efforts in the digital realm by sharing evidence and expertise, and pushing for “common solutions” to child safety challenges.
A joint statement, released by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.K. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, also urged tech platforms to go “further and faster” to protect children.
“As more children across the U.S. and around the globe have access to online platforms for online learning and social media, there is also increased risk to this exposure. That is why we are taking the necessary steps in the United States, and with our U.K. partners, to protect children’s privacy, safety, and mental health,” Raimondo said in a statement.
“We remain committed to combating youth online exploitation and this historic agreement will help us expand resources to support children and young people thrive online at home and abroad.”
“The online world brings incredible benefits for young people, enriching their education and social lives. But these experiences must take place in an environment which has safety baked in from the outset, not as an afterthought. Delivering this goal is my priority,” Kyle added in another supporting statement.
“The digital world has no borders, and working with our international partners like the U.S. — one of our closest allies and home to the biggest tech firms — is essential. This joint statement will turn our historic partnership towards delivering a safer online world for our next generation.”
Social media use among kids has been a topic of rising concern for lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic for several years.
In the U.S., lawmakers in the Senate gave their backing to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) over summer. It would require major online platforms to take reasonable steps to protect minors from harm by applying a “duty of care” to mitigate a range of child safety risks and limit addictive features.
In the U.K. wide-ranging online safety legislation is already on the statute books (since last fall).
The U.K. law was framed as especially necessary to protect kids from a range of online harms. But most of the provisions are yet to bite on the likely thousands of in-scope platforms and services. That’s because the country’s Internet regulator, Ofcom, is still in the process of consulting on compliance guidance. So the law isn’t expected to take proper effect until next year.
Hence why, earlier this year — during an outbreak of civil rest in the country — Ofcom could only suggest social media platforms take a tougher line on disinformation and divisive content that was widely perceived to be whipping up the street violence. Since then, a number of minors have been prosecuted for taking part in the violent disorder — a factor that’s only likely to have amped up lawmakers’ concerns about social media’s ability to exert a toxic pull on young developing minds.
While concern about social media’s impact on kids is a frequent discussion topic among parents, too, U.S. and U.K. lawmakers do point out there is a paucity of hard data, which is something the joint working group aims to address.
“Currently there is limited research and evidence on the causal impact that social media has on children and young people,” the two governments said in a press release.
“Once established, the group will work on key areas including promoting better transparency from platforms and consider researcher’s access to privacy-preserving data on social media, helping better understand the impacts and risks of the digital world on young people, including new technologies like generative AI.”
Another priority appears to be focused on bolstering their respective safety tech sectors, with the U.K. highlighting a 2024 analysis of the sector that it said shows a 37% surge in total revenue last year — to hit £623 million.
It added that the sector is projected to reach £1 billion in annual revenues by 2025 or 2026 if the current growth rate is maintained. In other words, protecting kids could also be good for fueling U.K. tech businesses.
Ensuring that safety is embedded into tech platforms and services from the start, via joint working toward the adoption of common solutions and with the help of international partners, is a core plank of the strategy to ensure “a more secure digital world for young people,” they said.
