Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what consideration she has given to repurposing social media algorithms whereby feeds recommend high-quality, age-appropriate content from a diverse range of trusted sources for child accounts.

Under the Online Safety Act, services that are likely to be accessed by children must prevent children from encountering the most harmful content and provide age-appropriate experiences. Ofcom has recommended measures to comply with the Act, including ensuring algorithms filter out content that is harmful.

On 2 March, the government launched a consultation on further measures to ensure children’s experiences online are safe and enriching. This consultation seeks views on whether specific functionalities, like algorithms, should be age-restricted, the benefits of positive online content for children, and how cross‑sector and voluntary efforts could enable access to it. The government will respond by Summer.