Protecting children

OS-Protecting Children-bedroom

Parental controls for mobile phones

Published: 28 October 2020

Last updated: 2 September 2026

This guide shows you how to find information to help keep children safe online when using a mobile phone

Age assurance duties under the Online Safety Act

Published: 23 February 2024

Last updated: 2 September 2026

Service providers which allow pornography must implement highly effective age assurance in line with our guidance to prevent children from accessing it.

Vet your vendor: a resource to help service providers conduct due diligence on their age assurance vendors

Published: 2 September 2026

If you use a third-party age assurance vendor, Ofcom expects you to conduct regular due diligence on them.

UK children protected from more high-risk sites as a result of Ofcom action

Published: 28 August 2026

Several sites dedicated to hosting content harmful to children have either blocked the UK or deployed age checks as a direct result of work done by Ofcom’s compliance teams.

Enforcement Bulletin: Enforcement Programme to protect children from harmful content through the use of age assurance

Published: 24 July 2025

Last updated: 28 August 2026

Parental controls for games consoles

Published: 28 October 2020

Last updated: 27 August 2026

This guide will show you how to find information to help keep children safe online, including on games consoles, tablets and other smart devices.

Transparency notice: Research on online platforms to explore online safety

Published: 9 February 2023

Last updated: 24 August 2026

A notice explaining how, in support of our online safety research, Ofcom will sometimes create accounts with fictional personas.

Important dates for Online Safety compliance

Published: 17 October 2024

Last updated: 24 August 2026

The Online Safety Act makes companies that operate a wide range of online services legally responsible for keeping people safe online.

Investigation into the provider of fapello.com's compliance with the duty to prevent children from encountering pornographic content through the use of age assurance

Published: 20 November 2025

Last updated: 18 August 2026

We are investigating whether the provider of fapello.com (‘Fapello’) has failed, or is failing, to comply with its duties under the Online Safety Act 2023 to prevent children from encountering pornographic content on its service through the use of highly effective age assurance.

Enforcement Programme to protect children from encountering pornographic content through the use of age assurance

Published: 16 January 2025

Last updated: 18 August 2026

Ofcom is opening an enforcement programme into age assurance measures across the adult sector, which will initially focus on regulated providers’ compliance with the Part 5 duties.