Ofcom rules TikTok and YouTube not safe enough for children

What Ofcom actually ruled

Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, ruled in May 2026 that both TikTok and YouTube are not doing enough to protect children on their platforms. The regulator found that existing safety measures on both services fall short of the standards it expects under UK law, particularly in the context of the Online Safety Act, which gives Ofcom broad powers to hold platforms accountable for harm to younger users.

The BBC reported the ruling on 21 May 2026, confirming that Ofcom had assessed both platforms and concluded neither met the required level of child protection. This is a significant step by the regulator and reflects its increasing willingness to name specific platforms publicly when their safeguards are considered inadequate.

Ofcom’s role as the designated online safety regulator means it can compel platforms to make changes, issue formal notices, and ultimately levy substantial fines on companies that fail to comply. The regulator has been building towards this kind of enforcement activity since the Online Safety Act received Royal Assent.

What TikTok and YouTube said in response

Both platforms responded to the ruling, though neither accepted the characterisation that their safety measures were insufficient.

“YouTube said it worked with experts to provide appropriate experiences. TikTok said it was disappointed Ofcom had not acknowledged its safety features.”

BBC News, 21 May 2026

YouTube’s position is that it collaborates with child development experts and safety organisations to design experiences appropriate for different age groups. The platform has previously introduced features including restricted modes, age-gating on certain content categories, and supervised accounts for younger users.

TikTok’s response focused on what it described as existing protections that Ofcom had not sufficiently recognised. TikTok has previously pointed to measures such as default screen time limits for under-18s, restricted direct messaging for younger accounts, and age-appropriate content filters as evidence of its commitment to safety.

What the Online Safety Act requires of platforms

The Online Safety Act, which became law in the UK in 2023, places a legal duty on platforms to protect children from harmful content. Ofcom was designated as the regulator responsible for enforcing these duties and has been rolling out its codes of practice and assessment frameworks throughout 2024 and 2025.

Under the Act, platforms that are likely to be accessed by children must carry out risk assessments and implement appropriate safety measures. Ofcom’s Codes of Practice set out specific steps platforms are expected to take, covering areas including age assurance, content recommendation systems, and complaint handling.

Where Ofcom finds that a platform has not met its obligations, it can issue an enforcement notice and, if the platform continues to fail, pursue fines of up to ten per cent of global annual turnover. The Act was designed specifically to give UK regulators meaningful leverage over large international technology companies.

Why this matters for UK families

For UK parents and carers, the ruling is a reminder that the platforms most popular with children and teenagers remain under active regulatory scrutiny. TikTok is consistently among the most-used apps by UK teenagers, while YouTube is widely accessed by children of all ages, including very young children through services such as YouTube Kids.

Ofcom’s finding that neither platform is currently doing enough will concern many families who rely on built-in platform safety settings rather than third-party parental controls. Independent guidance from organisations such as Internet Matters and the NSPCC consistently highlights that platform defaults alone are not sufficient protection, and that active parental engagement remains important.

For context on how mobile device use intersects with children’s online safety, see our overview of scams and safety topics on mobile.

What Ofcom is likely to do next

Exact details of the next steps Ofcom will take following its ruling were not fully set out in the initial reporting (further detail pending verification from Ofcom’s official publications). In previous enforcement cases, Ofcom has issued formal written notices giving platforms a defined period to demonstrate compliance, followed by further assessment.

If TikTok and YouTube are found to have improved their protections to the required standard within the timeframe Ofcom sets, the matter could be resolved without further financial penalties. If not, Ofcom has signalled it is prepared to use its full enforcement powers.

Ofcom has also been consulting on its Children’s Safety Codes, which set out detailed expectations for how platforms should protect under-18s. Finalised codes are expected to inform future enforcement decisions and provide clearer benchmarks against which platforms will be assessed.

How UK parents can act now

While Ofcom and the platforms work through the regulatory process, there are practical steps UK families can take today. Key resources include:

• Internet Matters (internetmatters.org): step-by-step guides to setting parental controls on TikTok, YouTube, and other platforms.
• NSPCC online safety hub (nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety): advice on talking to children about online risks and reporting harmful content.
• Childline (childline.org.uk): a confidential service children can contact if they encounter something distressing online.
• Reporting to Ofcom: concerns about platform conduct can be directed to ofcom.org.uk.

Setting accounts to private, enabling restricted or supervised modes, and reviewing what content recommendation settings are active on a child’s account are among the most immediate steps parents can take, regardless of the outcome of the regulatory process.

How to report concerns about online child safety

If a child has been exposed to harmful content or targeted by someone online, the appropriate reporting routes in the UK are:

• Police: call 999 in an emergency or 101 for non-urgent matters. Online child sexual abuse material should be reported to the Internet Watch Foundation.
• CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection): report concerns via ceop.police.uk.
• Action Fraud: for fraud-related online harms targeting children, report via actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040.
• Platform reporting tools: both TikTok and YouTube provide in-app reporting mechanisms for individual pieces of harmful content.

Ofcom’s ruling adds regulatory weight to long-standing concerns from child safety organisations. Whether TikTok and YouTube move quickly to satisfy the regulator will be closely watched by UK families, schools, and the wider online safety community.