UK users to get new controls over social media feeds
UK adults will get new tools to filter harmful content out of their social media feeds and block posts from unverified accounts, under draft rules published by Ofcom on Friday (10 July).
The proposals apply to the largest online platforms, known as Category 1 services under the Online Safety Act, which include Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat. The regulator published its Register of Categorised Services alongside the draft rules, confirming which platforms fall in scope.
Under the proposals, platforms must give adults tools to keep suicide, self-harm, eating disorder, hateful or abusive content out of their feeds.
The law already requires services to tackle illegal content and protect children from harmful material, but the new measures extend control to adult users over content that is legal but potentially distressing.
Users must also be given the choice to filter out content from accounts that have not been verified, and to prevent their own posts from being seen by unverified accounts.
Protections for news and journalism
The draft rules include new requirements to protect news, journalism and content of democratic importance.
Ofcom said the guidance would give media organisations more of a say when platforms seek to moderate or remove their content, and proposed measures to ensure sites and apps take more care with journalistic content and political debate.
Platforms will also face greater accountability requirements. Ofcom expects sites and apps to have clear and accessible rules for users and stick to them, and to make complaints processes easy and straightforward.
Category 1 services must publish summaries of their assessments of the risks of illegal content and harms to children on their services.
Category 1 covers user-to-user services with either 34 million UK users and a content recommender system, or 7 million UK users, a recommender system and the ability for users to share or forward content.
The thresholds were set by Government in secondary legislation, with Ofcom responsible for implementation.
The rules form part of a wider package published on Friday (10 July), which included a draft fraudulent advertising code requiring platforms to tackle scam ads. Platforms that fail to meet their legal duties once the codes are in force face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global revenue, whichever is greater.
The consultation closes on 2 October, with Ofcom set to publish its final decisions in 2027. The codes come into effect once approved by Parliament.
