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Ofcom lists age checks for UK social media under-16 ban
The BBC reported that Ofcom recommended photo ID matching, banking checks, facial age estimation and digital ID as highly effective ways to confirm users are 16 or over.
- New headline Was: “Ofcom outlines ways social media can verify ages of users”
- Our desk filed its story
Ofcom has listed methods it says can identify which of the United Kingdom's social media users are 16 or over, the BBC reported, as a ban on under-16s using 10 large platforms including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat is due in March1.
The regulator recommended four approaches besides traditional ID: matching a photo ID document to a live image; checks using a bank's record of a customer's age; facial age-estimation technology, which Ofcom said has improved; and digital ID services that can attest to age1. The BBC said proving age under 18 is hard because 16- and 17-year-olds often lack credit cards, full driving licences or passports and can look older or younger than they are1.
Platforms must design their own checks and comply, according to the report1. Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes told the BBC that after porn-site age checks, the regulator would not prescribe one method: "here are things that can work, they must preserve privacy, they must protect people's data"1.
Some companies, including Meta, have argued for device-level blocks so under-age users cannot install social apps from stores, the BBC said1. Australia already has a similar ban, and the BBC said many children there have found ways around it, while the UK says it intends a tougher approach1. Ofcom's report will go to the government, with a decision due by the end of the year1.