TO BE PUBLISHED December 2026
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This conference will examine next steps for children’s online safety in the UK. Areas for discussion include early experience and ongoing implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023, recently confirmed restrictions on children’s access to social media, approaches to age assurance and platform accountability, and priorities for responding to emerging technologies and online harms.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss how the UK’s approach to online safety is developing in practice. Following the Government's response to the Growing Up in the Online World consultation, delegates will consider what will be required to translate recent reform into workable, proportionate and effective safeguards for children, including Ofcom’s role in overseeing compliance under the Online Safety Act and the timing and sequencing of regulations - with the first regulations due before Parliament by the end of 2026, and under-16 restrictions expected to take effect in spring 2027.
The planned agenda will consider strategic options for ensuring that regulatory and institutional arrangements are equipped to support consistent oversight going forward, and where further clarification or coordination between actors may be required.
Delegates will also consider the role of schools in supporting children’s online safety and wellbeing alongside the implications of mobile phone restrictions in educational settings.
Social media restrictions & age assurance
Practical implications of restrictions on children’s social media use will also be explored. This includes the feasibility, accuracy and proportionality of age assurance and verification measures, regulation of high-risk and design-driven harms within platforms, and the extent to which compliance expectations can be applied consistently across services of differing scale and functionality.
Discussion will also consider how safeguarding responsibilities are shared across educational settings, children’s services, and digital regulation, including the interaction of platform-level duties with on-the-ground practice in schools, as well as the operational capacity required across systems to support effective delivery.
Emerging technologies, AI & international approaches
Further sessions examine priorities for responding to emerging online harms and technologies, including children’s use of AI tools, chatbots, and generative AI. Attendees will consider how regulatory approaches can remain responsive to rapid technological change while maintaining clarity around accountability - particularly in relation to harms generated or mediated by AI systems.
The conference will also assess approaches to supporting digital literacy, resilience and wellbeing alongside regulatory intervention, and how evidence of harm is best defined and measured in a fast-moving digital environment. The effectiveness of international approaches to online safety regulation will be discussed, alongside the challenges of regulatory divergence and interoperability, and their implications for the development and delivery of the UK’s evolving framework.
Overview of areas for discussion
- policy direction and implementation context:
- children’s online safety reform - restrictions on social media access for under-16s - Growing Up in the Online World consultation and government response
- provider readiness and operational capacity - implications for compliance systems, product design and enforcement across platforms
- regulation, oversight and accountability:
- early operation of the Online Safety Act 2023 - strengthening regulatory frameworks
- Ofcom’s supervisory role - enforcement priorities - consistency of regulatory approach across different services
- platform accountability and proportionality in applying duties across services of varying scale and functionality
- age assurance, platform design and safety standards:
- practical deployment of age assurance and verification systems - regulation of high-risk and engagement-driven platform design features across social media, gaming and messaging services
- consistency of safety standards across different types of online services - implications for design expectations
- AI and emerging technologies:
- safeguarding implications of AI chatbots, generative AI tools and digital companions used by children
- accountability and risk management in relation to AI-mediated or AI-generated harms - maintaining regulatory adaptability in response to rapidly evolving technologies
- schools, families and digital literacy:
- the role of schools, parents and local services in supporting children’s online safety and wellbeing - implications of mobile phone restrictions in educational settings for safeguarding practice
- digital literacy, parental engagement and access to guidance and support for families and children
- coordination, delivery and system-wide accountability:
- multi-agency coordination across regulators, government, industry, education providers and safeguarding services
- information-sharing arrangements, escalation pathways and clarity of responsibilities across the system
- delivery capacity and consistency challenges in implementing safeguarding expectations in practice
- international approaches and options for future regulation:
- international approaches to online safety regulation and areas of convergence and divergence - interoperability challenges for global platforms operating across multiple jurisdictions
- implications of international developments for the evolution of the UK regulatory framework
