This one day online conference will examine next steps for child online safety regulation, policy and practice in the UK.

Key stakeholders and policymakers will examine issues raised during Ofcom’s consultation on Protecting Children from Harms Online as part of its implementation roadmap for the Online Safety Act.

We expect discussion on the strategic priorities for online safety laid out by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology in November 2024, and key considerations for Ofcom during the implementation and enforcement of the Act.

Delegates will assess the roles and responsibilities of internet service providers and social media companies in tackling online harms and misinformation, as well as priorities for ensuring transparency and accountability. Areas for discussion include risk assessment, liability, options for sanctions, and the relationship between offline and online spaces. Specific concerns such as screen time-extending features, recommender systems, and the impact of body-image and depressive content will also be considered, alongside the role of education providers and new approaches to improving child media and safety literacy.

The agenda looks at latest developments in addressing practicalities of implementing age verification requirements, with reports that a potential future social media ban for under-16s in the UK is being considered. Identifying and classifying content, and issues around attention-retaining features that may negatively impact children, will also be discussed. Sessions will assess next steps for safeguarding against harmful content, including embedding safety by design, the future regulation and responsibilities relating to livestreaming sites, and challenges around moderating livestreams and homepage feeds.

Considerations around the balance between freedom of expression and online safety will be discussed, particularly in the context of identifying, classifying and moderating journalistic content. Attendees will also discuss privacy considerations and the provision of information for age verification purposes, and to emergency services and through the legal system.

The potential positive contribution and potential threats emanating from emerging technologies, such as AI, on online safety will be explored, looking at the adequacy of current legislation in regulating AI’s effects on internet safety. We also expect discussion on next steps for innovation to support child protection and the development of automated detection and areas for further research, following Ofcom’s Evaluation in Online Safety: A Discussion of Hate Speech Classification and Safety Measures, published in March 2024.

Further sessions will focus on international cooperation and enhancing collaboration to protect children online, with recent commitments to international regulatory consistency, looking at opportunities for sharing expertise, and exploring next steps for international private-public collaboration.

We are pleased to be able to include keynote sessions with: Michael Tunks, Principal, Online Safety, Ofcom; Prabhat Agarwal, Head, Digital Services and Platforms Unit, European Commission; and Prof Sonia Livingstone, Professor, Department of Media and Communications, LSE.

Overall, areas for discussion include:
• policy and regulation: key considerations for the Government’s strategic priorities for online safety - Ofcom’s consultation and next steps - options for strengthening the Online Safety Act - addressing key stakeholder concerns
• responsibilities: roles of social media platforms, content providers and ISPs in tackling online harms and misinformation - risk assessment and liability - practicalities and challenges for sector stakeholders - transparency and accountability
• regulatory balance: challenges in moderating journalistic content - considerations for freedom of speech - ensuring child protection
• specific issues: impacts of screen time-extending features - recommender systems - body-image and depressive content - mitigation strategies
• child media literacy: new educational approaches - roles of industry, families, schools and policymakers
• AI and emerging technologies: opportunities and threats in online safety - adequacy of current legislation - innovations in automated detection
• implementation: best practice and practical steps for stakeholder joint-working - addressing technology-amplified threats - moderating livestreams and feeds
• privacy and data sharing: considerations in providing information to authorities - balancing privacy with safety - legal and ethical implications
• international cooperation: building key global relationship - opportunities for UK leadership - regulatory consistency - private-public partnerships.