(1/2) On the one year anniversary of the Illegal Harms Codes under the OSA, we brought together UK partners working to tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) for a roundtable on the Government’s proposed under 16 social media ban. Our discussion focused on two priorities...

🆕 AI chatbots are already helping users plan violent attacks. CCDH and @cnn.com found chatbots assisting accounts posing as teens with school shootings, stabbings, and bomb threats. That’s why we’re backing changes to the UK Crime & Policing Bill👇

👇🏼 www.lbc.co.uk/article/tech...

I spoke to Baroness Kidron for @tbij.bsky.social about her proposed legal amendment which would make it an offence to create a chatbot that produces content that is illegal, or harmful, exploitative or coercive towards children. Read it in full ⬇️ www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...

📣 It's newsletter day! 📰 Read on. ✒️ Sign on. 💡 Think on. 🔗 Stay connected. 👉 us4.campaign-archive.com?e=6cf6aab125... #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #onlineharms #internetregulation #socialmedia #AIregulation #AI #chatbots #safetybydesign #onlineabuse #onlinescams #childsafety #misinformation

HoL amendment to bring in a #socialmedia ban rejected last night in favour of the Government's alternative to leave options open post-consultation. 107 Labour MPs abstained. Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill now goes back to the Lords. #onlinesafetyact www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The Government has tabled two amendments to give them powers to bring in new measures, including potentially a #socialmedia ban, once their children's #onlinesafety consultation has concluded. Here's how they work and why this approach is problematic: www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/osa...

Tonight, the documentary, Molly vs. The Machines will be shown at 9pm on Channel 4. It tells the heartbreaking story of Molly Russell who tragically took her own life aged just 14 after viewing harmful content online. Molly’s story, as told by her family and friends, is not an isolated one. 1/

Our initial response to the Government's consultation on children's #onlinesafety, which is due to be published later this morning. More to follow once we've seen the detail. 👉🏼 www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/res...

Consultation from #DSIT on children's #onlinesafety will be launched today, including proposals on #socialmedia bans, measures to address addictive design and #screentime and action on #chatbots BBC News - Consultation on social media ban for under-16s to begin www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“We've seen the spread of mis- and dis-information about electoral candidates and its chilling effect on the democratic process. "We need a Code of Practice produced by Ofcom and the Electoral Commission to protect candidates and encourage democratic participation.” 🗣️ Tallulah Belassie-Page

👇🏻 #onlinesafetyact www.gov.uk/government/n...

🌐 On #SaferInternetDay, the #EUKids Online team shares new findings on how children use and think about generative AI 🤖👧🧒 — moving from hype to action. 🔗 Read more: blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/202... #GenerativeAI #Childhood #DigitalSafety @sonialivingstone.bsky.social @mariyastoilova.bsky.social

🚨 Our latest fortnightly #onlinesafety newsletter has hit inboxes this morning. 📰 Read it at the link below. 🖋️ Sign up if you don't already receive it directly. 🗣️ Tell your friends. 🤝 Stay connected. us4.campaign-archive.com?e=12547a4002...

so a month ago I was reading @markpackuk.bsky.social’s speech on Twitter in the lords and there were obviously fake stats the government used to justify Twitter’s UK reach and its continued importance to British audiences Rob has now found the source of the data was… Twitter

@ofcom.bsky.social has today published an "update" on its investigation into #Grok and the #ICO has announced it's opening one of its own. Here's our response on why both regulators need to up their game and why gaps in the #onlinesafetyact must be filled. www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/osa...

Quite the conveyor belt of witnesses giving evidence in the first two sessions of the #cybersecurity and resilience Bill Committee today, with #DSIT Minister Kanishka Narayan rounding up before the Committee starts its scrutiny on Thursday.

Today, we're joining @osanetwork.bsky.social to publish a code that will strengthen the Online Safety Act & protect elections in the UK. CCDH has repeatedly shown how unaccountable social media platforms enable abuse and violence against elected officials and candidates. Read more 👇

🆕 Today we're publishing a code for improved #onlinesafety for election candidates, developed with experts at @demos-uk.bsky.social @counterhate.com @isdglobal.org @jocoxfoundation.bsky.social @wfd.org @fawcettsociety.bsky.social @fullfact.org & #ElectHer 1/2 www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/imp...

This is effectively a government backed advertising campaign for Big Tech for a product that doesn't work properly.

Great to be joined by cross-party Parliamentarians, DSIT Minister Kanishka Narayan and our fabulous civil society partners in Parliament today to launch our 10-point plan to strengthen the #onlinesafetyact - there's much to do but the commitment to working with us to do it was hugely welcome.

We set out to determine how many images of women and girls Grok created during its nudifying spree. What we found was “industrial-scale abuse,” experts said. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/t...

If you ever wonder, what is it that Musk doesn’t want you to know… here’s your answer. Another brilliant bit of research by @counterhate.com www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/t...

🚨 Lord Nash won the vote on his #socialmedia amendment in the Lords last night - read the transcript here, including Baroness Kidron on #safetybydesign & support from Lord Clement-Jones & Viscount Colville for our proposals to strengthen the #onlinesafetyact 👇🏻 hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2026-0...

Well said, Baroness Kidron in @houseoflords.parliament.uk #socialmedia debate tonight. #onlinesafetyact www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...?

Last week, in response to international pressure, X announced it was restricting Grok's ability to edit people into revealing clothes. That has not stopped the rampant trend of sexual harassment via Grok edits. The culture around GenAI is firmly rooted in abuse. spitfirenews.com/p/grok-will-...

"We believe the most efficient and effective way to stop the tech companies continuing to harm our children - and many others - is to strengthen and enforce the existing #onlinesafetyact." Our response to the Government's #socialmedia consultation today.👇🏻 www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/str...

Detail from #DSIT on the proposals "to boost children’s wellbeing online" which is out for consultation today, including a proposed ban on under-16s access to #socialmedia. We'll be publishing our response later and will share comment and reaction here during the day. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Times now picking up the same intell about consultation coming soon on social media restrictions for kids www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Downing St is poised to launch a consultation into social media restrictions on teenagers, here’s our scoop from Saturday’s FT: www.ft.com/content/acbe...

This figure (and the full article) tells you a lot about the grip the tech sector and its lobbyists have on UK government thinking and just how hard it is for civil society to get its voice heard. #onlinesafetyact 👇🏻 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

💥 The Guardian, BBC News and Telegraph have corrected stories claiming research showed screen time damages toddlers’ speech, after @fullfact.org got in touch. (The study showed a correlation between screen time and smaller vocab, not that one caused the other.) fullfact.org/health/scree...

No surprise to learn X is still permitting users to post these images generated by Grok despite claiming it had taken action. Enough is enough. @ofcom.bsky.social MUST use its powers to shut this down www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

As of now, that's still possible in the UK.

This is a welcome development. However, our formal investigation remains ongoing. We are working round the clock to progress this and get answers into what went wrong and what’s being done to fix it.

🧐 #grok #onlinesafetyact

Starmer vows action against Elon Musk's X: "The actions of Grok and X are disgusting... We're absolutely determined to take action... We're not going to back down. They must act. We will take the necessary measures. We will strengthen existing laws.. This is weaponising images of women & children."

Transcript of yesterday's statement on X and subsequent Commons debate here. Good to see the cross-party consensus about the seriousness of the issue, the Govt's action and the need for speed from Ofcom - with one very notable exception. 👇🏻 #onlinesafetyact hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026...

👇🏻 #onlinesafetyact www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Keir Starmer hasn’t posted on X since 8th Jan, when the government first intervened in the Grok AI images scandal (but has posted on Facebook and Instagram in that period)

Shad Tech Sec, Julia Lopez MP, despite (apparently) agreeing with gov't online portection aim, started a BIZARRE apologia/whatabout over X that equated Grok to "crude drawings", drew in Iran, rape gangs, immigration, trans rights, and even blamed children for "sharing their images too freely". 👀 ~AA

Ministerial statement on X now confirmed for this afternoon: whatson.parliament.uk

@ofcom.bsky.social has launched an investigation into X. What happens next? Here's our expert legal adviser, Prof Lorna Woods OBE, on exactly that question. #onlinesafetyact www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/ofc...

We've launched an investigation into X over Grok sexualised imagery. We've opened a formal investigation into X under the Online Safety Act, to determine whether it has complied with its duties to protect people in the UK from content that is illegal in the UK. 🔗 www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

⬇️ www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

Happy Monday, everyone. Will @ofcom.bsky.social take robust #onlinesafetyact enforcement action on X? Will Ministers stand up to Musk? We can't help with those predictions. But our newsletter can bring you right up to speed with where we are this morning. ⬇️ us4.campaign-archive.com?e=12547a4002...

As covered by @politico.com #MorningTech, we've written to the PM to call on him to end the use of X for Government communications in light of the appalling generation of sexualised images of women and girls via the platform's #Grok chatbot. Read more here⬇️ www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/let...

Op-ed from #DSIT Secretary of State Liz Kendall in the Telegraph: "This is a moment for MPs on all sides of the House to stand up for decency and call out platforms which allow explicit, degrading and illegal content. It’s time to choose a side."⬇️ #onlinesafetyact www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...

Dame Caroline Dinenage tells the BBC that "there are doubts as to whether the #onlinesafetyact actually has the power to regulate functionality." It does. But @ofcom.bsky.social chose not to use it - writing a set of weak codes and promising further iterations idc. 1/ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...