Only 28% of children answering a survey on online safety said they talk a lot to their family about what they do online.
The survey, conducted by the Children’s Commissioner for Wales during June 2024 to inform her response to Ofcom’s consultation on its widening powers relating to the Online Safety Act (2023), was answered by 1284 children and young people between the ages of 7 and 18, from 16 local authorities.
29% of children who listed apps that made them feel unsafe or unhappy mentioned Roblox, followed by YouTube (17%) and Snapchat (12%).
On Roblox, children as young as 8 shared concerns about ‘toxic and rude’ users, ‘aggressive behaviour’, the ability to have conversations with strangers, being ‘scammed’ and experiences of racial discrimination.
When children had reported concerns directly with an online platform, only 32% felt their concerns had been taken seriously.
Publishing the results ahead of the school summer holidays, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales has urged parents to look closely at information on parental controls, app content, and age requirements.
Rocio Cifuentes MBE said:
“Online apps can give children fantastic opportunities to be creative, to express themselves, and to connect with their friends. But there are dangers too, and I know that keeping up with everything young people do online can feel daunting for parents and carers. Ahead of the summer holidays, where children are likely to spend more time on screens, it feels especially important that parents are equipped with the knowledge they need.
“Luckily there’s comprehensive and clear information out there from people like the NSPCC, and the Welsh Government, that I’d encourage all parents to read. Knowing more about parental controls, how to approach conversations about usage, age requirements, and the content of the app could go a long way to keeping your child safe and happy when they’re online.
“For too long social media companies have been able to overlook children and young people’s safety. Ofcom have a vital role now in making sure that those platforms take their duty of care to young people seriously, and I’m pleased that I’ve been able to reflect some of the concerns children have to Ofcom through their consultation.”
Senior Policy and Public Affairs Officer at NSPCC Cymru, Ruth Mullineux said:
“The first-hand experiences and perspectives of young people captured in this survey and through initiatives like the NSPCC’s newly launched Voice of Online Youth show that tech companies have neglected children’s safety and wellbeing in the design of their services for too long.
“Children must no longer be left to keep themselves safe from online harms. At the NSPCC we continue to call for ambitious implementation of the Online Safety Act by Ofcom to ensure tech companies introduce robust measures which prioritise children’s safety.
“In Wales, retaining a commitment and focus on children’s safety online through well resourced, effective, and targeted actions in a dedicated action plan, including the commitment to ensure young people have their say on the approach, is vital.
“Policy makers and regulators need to be considering young people’s views to understand the realities of the issues they face online and deliver effective responses.”
Elinor Williams, Principal, Regulatory Affairs, Ofcom Wales said:
“We thank the Children’s Commissioner for Wales for sharing their insights with us.
Children should be able to enjoy life online. We’ve set out over forty practical measures which firmly place the responsibility for keeping children safer on tech firms. That includes taming aggressive algorithms that push harmful content to children in their personalised feeds, and making sure that children can easily report content and make complaints.
“We’re working at pace to consider all the evidence submitted to us and aiming to finalise our Codes of Practice to protect children from seriously harmful and dangerous content next spring. Once they are in force, we won’t hesitate to use our full range of enforcement powers to hold platforms to account.”
The survey also found that:
- 76% of children said they feel happy and safe online
- If they saw something online that made them upset or worried, children and young people most commonly said they would tell their parents, report it to the platform, or tell another family member
- Teachers expressed concerns about the impact children’s screen time has on their education, with some seeing the impact of tiredness amongst pupils due to late-night gaming.