Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Online safety compliance will take time, as shown by video-sharing platform regulation experience.
Conclusion
Ofcom told us that it had undertaken a similar approach in its regulation of video- sharing platforms from November 2020. It had worked with pornography providers, some of whom had, as a result, introduced age estimation techniques. However, there had been a cluster of smaller companies that had not been so compliant, and Ofcom had therefore started a compliance programme on these at the beginning of 2023. As a result, these too were now moving to put in place the kinds of age verification Ofcom was asking for. Ofcom noted that, even when its powers are enforceable, it does take time to achieve change as some companies will move faster than others.36