the prime minister says platforms will be held to account as ministers prepare a consultation and new legal powers to curb harms to children online
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The UK government has signalled an intensified effort to reduce online harms affecting young people, promising that no platform will be immune from scrutiny. Officials say they will pursue regulatory changes aimed at limiting how children access certain services, tightening rules around artificial intelligence, and closing loopholes that have allowed non-consensual images to be produced and shared.
These measures will be guided by conversations with families: ministers plan a public consultation in March and will meet parents and young people to hear views on the proposed reforms. The stated aim is to provide clearer protections for childhood and give carers practical tools to manage online risks.
Big themes of the proposed approach
The government’s programme focuses on three broad areas: controlling access, strengthening AI safeguards and speeding up legal responses. To address access, officials are exploring measures that could stop children from using virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass age limits and view inappropriate material.
At the same time, ministers are considering consultations on bans for underage users of certain social platforms and on design limits such as curbing infinite scrolling to reduce addictive patterns.
On the technology front, attention has turned to how interactive systems behave. Changes to the Crime and Policing Bill are proposed so that providers of AI chatbots are obliged to prevent the generation of illegal content and to remove loopholes that enabled the creation of sexualised deepfakes. Campaigners and some ministers argue these steps are needed after incidents where chatbots produced non-consensual explicit images.
Legal tools and fast‑track powers
Ministers intend to use the upcoming Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to give the state the ability to react quickly to evolving online behaviours. That legislation would, according to government briefings, enable swift changes to keep pace with technological shifts rather than waiting for lengthy primary law processes. Separately, amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill are set out to impose clearer duties on industry when their systems are used to break the law.
The proposals also adopt elements of a campaign known as Jools’ Law, which has pushed for preservation of young people’s digital records in investigations. The campaign emerged after a bereaved parent found authorities could not access a child’s online activity when seeking answers, prompting calls to make it easier to retain and retrieve relevant data in future inquiries.
Responses from politicians and charities
Reactions to the plans have been mixed. Supporters praise the government for acting decisively to close gaps in regulation and to press technology companies to accept responsibility for user safety. Some commentators and charity leaders have urged the prime minister to go further, proposing a new and beefed-up Online Safety Act that would set higher product safety expectations for services used by children.
Critics argue the consultation timetable risks delaying urgent steps. A former minister campaigning in the Lords suggested that instead of extended debate, the government should immediately raise age limits to 16 for the most harmful platforms — a change that he says could be implemented sooner through parliamentary amendments. Opposition politicians have accused the administration of offering rhetoric rather than action, urging a firm timeline for any restrictions.
Concerns about enforcement and oversight
Some voices want stronger parliamentary scrutiny of how these powers would be used. Questions remain about enforcement: regulators will need technical capacity to monitor compliance with new rules on AI content generation and to verify that operators are preventing the creation and distribution of harmful material. Observers highlight the tension between speedy intervention and meaningful democratic oversight.
What families can expect
For parents and guardians, the government frames the package as practical help: clearer age rules, tools to limit exposure and legal options to pursue platforms that enable abuse. Officials say consultations will draw directly on the experiences of children, teachers and carers so that any new rules reflect lived challenges. The stated objective is to ensure that companies treat children’s wellbeing as a baseline requirement for operating in the UK market.
As the consultation opens and legislation is developed, attention will centre on whether the proposed mix of access controls, AI safeguards and legal powers can reduce harms without unintended consequences for privacy, innovation or free expression. What is clear from ministers’ announcements is a renewed determination to ensure that digital services are held to account when they put young people at risk.
