The Information Commissioner’s Office has today published an open letter to social media and video‑sharing platforms operating in the UK, calling on them to strengthen age assurance measures so young children can’t access services that are not designed for them.

The open letter sets out the ICO’s expectations that platforms with a minimum age must move beyond relying on children to self-declare their ages, which they can easily bypass.

Instead, platforms should make use of the viable technology that is now readily available to enforce their own minimum ages and prevent these children from accessing their services, the ICO said.