UK's media watchdog warns children still at risk on social media

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]Uh, now MPs have written to Channel 4 about Married at First Sight UK and they've also written to Offcom about these claims of rape and sexual assault on the program.

[00:00:13]>> Well, the regulator is facing growing pressure to show reality TV participants are properly safeguarded, which it appears in this case they were not.

[00:00:23]Offcom's chief executive D Melanie Doors joins us live now. Good morning. Thank you very much for coming in here.

[00:00:28]>> Good morning. I guess we're all just beginning to to grasp the reality of this, which is the horrible reality is beginning to dawn that actually in watching this program, Married at First Sight, viewers were actually watching sex crimes unfolding on television. And that's a very big one for Offcom to have to grapple with, isn't it?

[00:00:47]>> Yeah. Well, look, I think this is really serious. It raises some big concerns.

[00:00:51]And we've got very clear guidance out there to ITV, Channel 4 and others that reality TV can be great. It can be really entertaining, but it can be really risky for participants and they need to be properly safeguarded. So look, this is still very live. Uh Channel 4 are doing a big review of it.

[00:01:08]Uh we will never actually say publicly if individuals have come to complain to us about their own treatment, but we would always look into any of those complaints as a priority. And you know, as I say, I think it it it raises really serious concerns.

[00:01:22]>> Well, the the the the chair of the of the Common Select Committee on on broadcasting said earlier this week very pithily, I thought she said that this was basically an accident waiting to happen. If you have a program where people are being encouraged and expected to go to bed >> to with each other minutes after being introduced, this is something which is bound to emerge down the line.

[00:01:45]>> Well, look, as I say, I think this it definitely needs looking into. offcom is on this.

[00:01:48]>> No, but sorry, my point is maybe maybe you should have seen this coming.

[00:01:52]>> Well, we do have incredibly strong guidance here and I think the question is have Channel 4 followed that guidance and does it need to be tightened? So, we are absolutely looking into this as a matter of urgency.

[00:02:02]>> What is the guidance? Because when you're um you know running a a dating show like this and as Richard says um you you know you're encouraging people to have relationships.

[00:02:15]Uh that's the point of the show. You might not be encouraging them to have a sexual relationship. That would presumably al always be up to the participants. But the allegations in this case are that people ended up being abused, assaulted, >> and also their phones were taken away from them as part of the show and therefore >> they were unable to communicate with other trusted members of their family or friends >> for instance. I mean what is the responsibility of the regulator >> there if all of these things these claims are being made? Well, look, what we what we always try to avoid is being like really specific about you can do this, you can't do that because fundamentally the responsibility is with Channel 4 and its production company or it's with ITV or BBC, whoever's producing these shows to get this right.

[00:03:09]So, if they have not got it right, then that is going to be a serious issue. So, uh it's very live, but I do agree with you. I think this raises really serious concerns and sometimes these things do happen when we look back and go, how did that happen? How did we let that happen?

[00:03:23]If we need to tighten our guidance, then we absolutely will.

[00:03:25]>> I was going to say, is it not time for a complete root and branch review of the whole concept of we call them reality shows, but they're the very opposite of reality shows. They're all about control and manipulation. And yes, the company that made this particular one says that they operated a gold standard of care.

[00:03:42]Well, it clearly was a failed gold standard. a very low carat indeed, possibly even fool's gold because we all know and those of us in the business know and you know, >> but these reality programmers, >> their priority is not the people taking part. Their priority is the program and getting ratings and getting a recommission. So, do we need a root and branch review of the whole concept of reality TV in this country?

[00:04:03]>> Well, look, I think people do love reality TV. It's a very entertaining >> public executions. Well, but but the the question is does it safeguard and protect the people who are on it, you know, properly? And are broadcasters doing enough, production companies doing enough to think about these issues? And, you know, sometimes we do have these wakeup calls where as a country we just go, this has gone too far. Um, I don't think, you know, think we have to be careful you don't switch everything off.

[00:04:26]I'm sure there are people watching who actually like, you know, actually, I want to carry on being able to enjoy this this stuff on the TV, but is it being done in a way that protects people? That's the question. And we are asking that question.

[00:04:38]>> We should obviously point out these currently remain allegations. Exactly.

[00:04:43]Um as Richard says the production company itself said that you know it operated a gold standard when it come came to the production and looking after the welfare of the participants. And in the case of the phones being taken away they point out that the participants could get their phone back if they wanted to. So it's important to put that case on behalf of the production company. But obviously these allegations hang very heavily over this program and uh and uh the whole of reality TV is I'm sure thinking to itself how do we look after people and that's a major responsibility for you.

[00:05:20]>> Um I want to ask you about a couple of other things this morning because you are I think it's fair to say trying your best to tackle online harm in a way that critics say is not good enough. M >> now tell us what's happening with protecting children. Last week the um one of the ministers Jess Phillips who tackles violence against women and girls resigned from the government and she hit out saying that we have the ability to um end the opportunity for children to take images, naked images of themselves.

[00:05:56]91% of online child sex abuse is selfgenerated.

[00:06:01]But the government hasn't moved quickly enough on this and that was a key part of her resation letter.

[00:06:07]>> Why aren't we doing that?

[00:06:09]>> Well, look, what we're saying today and what we've published today is uh some responses that we have had from the social media companies to improve safety for children and I was on this show a couple of months ago telling you that we'd set out these demands. So, what have we seen? We've seen Snapchat come forward and finally switch off uh that that that system where at the moment adults can find kids very easily and kids even get adults they don't know recommended to them as friends. That's clearly incredibly risky. They have finally agreed that they're going to switch off that which >> they're going to when >> well we we have we we look this is a just be really clear no other country has secured this commitment for their kids. So this is a this is a UK first and they have a few weeks to get back to us now with a timetable but we're expecting it to be a matter of weeks before this has changed. We only secured this commitment from them. I met them myself a couple of weeks ago. So that is progress.

[00:07:02]>> Can you just for those that isn't enough just to be clear there's a lot more to >> people who don't use Snapchat >> they might find this astonishing.

[00:07:09]>> So just explain what the current situation is. If I have a 13-year-old daughter and she's regularly on Snapchat, what is currently happening that you're asking is switched off?

[00:07:20]>> Well, look, bear in mind as well that that a third of 8 to 12 year olds are on Snapchat even though the minimum age is 13. But basically the find my friends, find your friends functionality on Snapchat. recommends all sorts of people that you could want to be friends with with no regard at the moment to whether or not they're adults that you that you know or don't know or whether they're people of your own age. So that >> so total stranger >> real stranger danger frankly >> try and add a 13year-old girl >> to Snapchat made contact with them.

[00:07:51]>> Yes. Exactly. And then you've got private messaging and all of those risky features that can really lead to abuse, which is why actually this is the platform that's been named as one of the big ones for child >> abuse. How will Snapchat actually stop that happening?

[00:08:04]>> Well, what they're going to need to do is put in proper age checks, which again they and others, I don't want to completely single them out, by the way, because they've made progress today and others maybe not so much. But this this you know other really important thing is that they actually these companies start to focus on who are the kids on their platforms because one of the big problems we've got here and why this is so hard to tackle and does take time frankly is that we've had 20 years of an age blind internet where you know there hasn't been any understanding of who the kids are and they've been treated exactly like adults and that's one of the big things we're trying to change.

[00:08:36]So presumably once this Snapchat operation kicks in in a few weeks time you can turn to the other platforms and say basically well look if they can do it you can do it.

[00:08:44]>> Yeah and look Instagram uh are are in a slightly better place already and are introducing some changes as well.

[00:08:50]Roadblocks again as a result of our interventions have introduced much stronger kind of guarding of different age groups so that they so that if you're a primary school age kid you can play with other kids but not with older kids and not with adults. So again things are beginning to change. I think the thing I'd call out that hasn't changed this morning is the recommener feeds. So, we've had a response from is the recommener feeds. You know, these very viral feeds that our kids and us as adults have on social media where a lot of harm is still coming through and we've published research showing that today. And Tik Tok and YouTube have said that the status quo is all they're offering us at the moment. And that is clearly not adequate. I think it just shows that their view of what's safe for kids and our view and children's view is not actually the same. So that's now our big uh area for compliance.

[00:09:36]>> And this is the content that is being pushed towards children. Yes. And creating an algorithm which they then consume but they may not have chosen to look at.

[00:09:47]>> Exactly. Kids are really clear that they don't have the control over those algorithms that they want. But the law is also very clear that they must be tamed. They must not be showing suicide and self harm material, pornography, and other harmful content.

[00:10:00]>> It's forced feeding, isn't it?

[00:10:01]Effectively.

[00:10:02]>> Yeah. I think that's a good way of describing it and it's very personalized. So it's very hard for parents to know what their kids are receiving as well and what they're experiencing.

[00:10:09]>> And just on just finally on that issue that Jess Phillips had raised that I think many of us had no idea about that there is the technology to prevent children taking naked images of themselves and we have not introduced that. Who's holding that up? She pointed the finger at the prime minister, >> but that's is it the tech companies are not allowing you to introduce that?

[00:10:33]What's what's the issue there? Well, look, I think this is this is it's to be honest, it's quite a complicated one because it's a it's a little bit about the phone and what's allowed on the phone and it's a little bit about what's allowed on the app. But we're absolutely clear that where there are these direct messaging or or uh functionalities, you know, these companies need to do a lot more already to to to prevent kids from being able to exchange images like that.

[00:10:56]>> You never feel like you're fighting a losing battle.

[00:10:58]>> No, honestly, I feel like we're making progress here. Um we've also got X to agree some changes in how they they deal with hate and terror in the last week.

[00:11:07]Again, only in the UK are those changes coming in. So, we are making progress, but I'd be the last person to say that this is enough. We've got a lot a long road ahead.

[00:11:15]>> You've got a lot on your plate. Thank you both. Thank you very much for coming.

[00:11:19]>> D Melanie Dors from Offcom. Thanks very much. at you.