Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the suitability of (a) live location sharing and (b) addictive content features such as autopay for social media apps used by children.

The Online Safety Act requires services to mitigate and manage risks to children from online features and functionalities. Ofcom recommends in its Codes of Practice that services with specific risks should turn off live location sharing for children as default. Services must also consider how specific features and functionalities, such as autoplay, can increase children’s exposure to illegal or harmful content and mitigate these risks.

Additionally, our landmark consultation launched earlier this month seeks views on whether the government should further restrict risky functionalities such as location sharing, and ‘addictive’ functionalities including autoplay, to further protect children online.