Recommendation 25

Social media platforms must have robust methods in place to trace users posting content that violates the platform’s terms of service, and must effectively enforce their own sanctions against such users. We recommend that, as part of the new online safety regulatory framework, social media platforms should be required to demonstrate to Ofcom that they can identify previously banned users seeking to create new accounts and, where a platform’s rules prohibit these users from returning to the platform, that the platform is adequately enforcing these rules. Ofcom should have the power to issue fines or take other enforcement action if a platform is unable to demonstrate this.