Delivering effective online safety: NCB’s response to government proposals

It is unacceptable that three years after the Online Safety Act 2023 children and young people continue to experience online bullying, abuse, and exposure to harmful content. In this context decisive action is needed to safeguard children, but we are concerned the social media ban for those under 16-years-old risks introducing a blunt tool that doesn’t tackle harmful platform design and won't keep all children and young people safe.

Evidence from Australia is showing that harmful design features and algorithms remain unaddressed, and many children and young people continue to access social media despite the age restrictions.

Children and young people, particularly those from marginalised groups, should have their often very different needs considered. That is why we must provide solutions that deliver a safe online world for all their experiences, rather than simply excluding them from specific digital spaces. 

At NCB we believe that lasting improvements in children's online safety will come from a combination of strong regulation, effective enforcement of the Online Safety Act 2023, safer-by-design services, digital literacy and education, and meaningful engagement with children and young people themselves.

This requires clear rules about safe design and legislation that holds platforms and digital companies accountable for delivering them, regardless of the type of technology. That is why in our response to the consultation we supported calls for:

1. Safety by design as a legal requirement.
2. Stronger regulation across all digital spaces, not just social media, to include gaming and emerging technologies like AI chatbots.
3. Child‑centred, rights‑based approaches to online safety.

Going forward we will be working closely with many others in this space. This includes children and young people, professionals across sectors, and national and community groups to address some key unanswered questions about how the ban will work in practice.  

We know that many children and young people may be concerned about what these changes mean for them, such as being cut off from online connections and communities that matter to them. Our NCB family member, the Anti-Bullying Alliance, has published recommendations for parents and others who are supporting children worried about the social media ban announcement.

Our work in this area 

When contributing to the national consultation, we outlined a series of practical recommendations and calls to action, drawing on evidence, professional expertise and the lived experiences of children and young people –

NCB amplifies voices of children and young people in response to national debate on online safety and wellbeing. These included:

1. Embed a child rights–based approach
   Ground all online safety policy in UNCRC General Comment No. 25, ensuring children’s rights guide regulation.
2. Prioritise safety by design by adopting the Safety by Design Code of Practice developed by civil society partners 
   Require digital services to proactively prevent harm through design, making safety a precondition for operating services accessed by children.
3. Strengthen and expand regulation across technologies
   Apply robust safeguards to social media, gaming, and emerging AI tools with stronger accountability for digital service providers.
4. Ensure strong governance, accountability, and participation
   Introduce independent oversight, remove commercial incentives for harmful digital design, and embed children’s voices in policymaking.
5. Mandate child-friendly principles 
   Make online experiences suitable for different ages by mandating clear, child-friendly principles, including reliable and privacy-preserving age verification, graduated experiences, default safety and privacy, and a holistic risk assessment.