Meta, Snap and Roblox commit to tougher anti-grooming measures in UK - Engadget

UK regulator Ofcom released a study raising concerns that social networks aren’t doing enough to protect children online. Ofcom has published a new report, detailing how some of the biggest social networks have responded to its calls for tighter security measures in order to protect children from online harm. The UK regulator said that it emailed Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, Snap, TikTok and YouTube in March after a study it did late last year showed that they aren't doing enough to protect children. One of the regulator's demands, made under the Online Safety Act, is for the platforms to implement protections against online grooming. In response, Snap agreed to roll out default settings that would prevent adults from contacting children they don't know on its app, and it also won't encourage young users to "expand their friendship groups to strangers" anymore. The company told Ofcom that it will release a "highly effective age assurance" system to all UK users this summer, so that it can identify everyone under 18 in the country and apply the new anti-grooming measures to their account. Meanwhile, Meta told the regulator that it will develop a new setting that will hide teenagers'