Ofcom outlines age check methods ahead of social media ban for under-16s

Ofcom has set out its recommendations for the most effective ways to identify which of the UK's millions of social media users are aged over 16.

Under the UK's social media ban - which is due to come into force in March next year - those under that age will be prevented from accessing ten of the biggest platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

Many UK adults are also likely to have to confirm that they are not under-age by using one of the proposed measures, which are subject to government approval.

A similar ban was introduced in Australia last year but many children there have found ways to get round it. The UK says it intends to take a tougher approach.

Age verification below 18 is challenging because 16 and 17 year olds don't have credit cards or full driving licences, and may not have passports either. They can also look significantly older or younger than they are.

To address that challenge, Ofcom has - in addition to traditional forms of ID - recommended four methods that it says would be "highly effective" at gauging people's ages:

• photo ID matching, where relevant information on a photo ID document such as a passport is checked against a live image taken during an age check

• banking-based checks, which involves using the information a financial institution has on record regarding a user's age

• face age estimation technology (which the regulator argues has recently improved)

• digital ID services, which enable people to digitally prove who they are or provide information about themselves, such as their age

The BBC has asked three of the UK's biggest banks whether they would have a process for assisting with social media requests for age verification if it did become an official measure.

However, ultimately it will be up to the tech companies to figure out how to implement the checks: the onus is on social network providers to come up with their own solutions and comply.

Ofcom CEO Dame Melanie Dawes said the regulator was drawing on its experience in introducing tougher age checks for porn sites last year:

"What we've learned in introducing age checks across the porn industry is that actually what a lot of countries did before us was say you need to do it this way and they were very prescriptive and it didn't work," she told the BBC.

"So what we've said all along is here are things that can work, they must preserve privacy, they must protect people's data, but it's on you to put in place what you think works for you."

Some of the tech companies, including Meta, have called for age verification to be applied at device level, so that someone under-age would be automatically blocked from installing social media apps via app stores.

Meta told the BBC it already applies some methods recommended by Ofcom to enforce its user age requirements or place users in Teen Accounts settings.

But it said applying age checks at device-level, via app stores, could reduce the burden on people to have to repeatedly verify their age across multiple platforms.

This would place responsibility with Apple and Google, who between them operate most of the world's smartphones. Apple has already introduced age verification in the UK.

However Ofcom says that would not absolve the social network providers from doing their own checks as well.

The regulator said it didn't have a firm number for how many adults would need to prove they were not under age, but conceded that it would be a "large number of accounts" that social media companies would need to "deal with."

It has also acknowledged that "the risk of circumvention cannot be entirely eliminated", and some children would succeed in bypassing the age checks.

Dawes said making the ban work would be a joint effort.

"At Ofcom, what we will do is make sure that the services that the social media companies put in the checks that they need to," she told BBC News.

"That's our job, but the wider question about how everybody engages with this, it is for everybody, really.

"I actually think the real prize here is going to be for today's eight to 10-year-olds entering secondary school without it being the norm to go on Snap in your class group chat, without it being the norm to have all your sports fixtures organised on Instagram."

Ofcom's age verification report will now be considered by the government, with a decision due by the end of the year.

Child safety campaigners including the Molly Rose Foundation and NSPCC welcomed Ofcom's guidance.

But both said there were lessons to be learned from how Australia's social media ban had been implemented, after it was found many under-16s could still access social platforms.

"That's why, as we prepare to embark on our own social media ban in the UK, we need to make sure we accurately know the age of child users," said Rani Govender, head of child safety online at the NSPCC.

She said the government and Ofcom must ensure tech firms are held accountable for meeting age check standards "to help keep children safe online and ensure the ban delivers change in practice".

But Andy Burrows, the Molly Rose Foundation's chief executive, said Ofcom had shown a "dire track record" of enforcing the Online Safety Act - raising questions over how effectively it would help deliver a social media ban.

"Andy Burnham must deliver a ban that learns the lessons from Australia and that incentivises safety-by-design as the price of admission to the UK market, with a ban as the starting point in a proper plan to give children a safe and happy online life," he said.

Jonny Blunt, corporate affairs director of BT's consumer division, said families should "prepare children for life online after the ban and highlight the risks of trying to dodge the restrictions".

"Having those conversations now and giving young people time to prepare for the changes in March will be crucial in helping them adapt to a significant change for a whole generation," he said.

"The restrictions have the potential to change the way young people interact with the digital world for the better, but only if regulators, tech companies, families, and educators come together to make it a success."

Additional reporting by Liv McMahon and Chris Vallance