Debbie Beadle, chief executive of the domestic abuse survivor support charity FearFree, spoke to BBC Radio Wiltshire's Ben Prater this morning about how abusive relationships between young people can play out online.

“Banning [phones] doesn’t necessarily help, what we need to do is make sure that we teach children and young people how to keep themselves safe, whether that’s online, with their friends, out in public, we need to give them the skills they need to recognise abuse and then how to respond to it," she said.

"What I would say to young people, parents and professionals is just look out there for your local charities and don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call them for help and advice," she added.

Image source, Getty Images

One of the profiles our reporters Harriet and Andy set up was for fictional 13-year-old Kai from Trowbridge, who loves gaming - especially Fortnite, Roblox and Call of Duty. His other interests include musicians like Snoop Dog and Eminem, and he writes songs himself.

Over the course of the week-long experiment 'Kai' was shown graphic and aggressive clips from video games, including close-up shots of stabbings with blood spurting out of victims.

As well as other dramatised stories with shocking subjects 'Kai' was also shown a video of how to steal a metal statue from the front of an expensive car.

Social media companies we have contacted say they are taking the issue seriously and are working hard to remove harmful content

Amanda Parr
BBC Bristol

Earlier today we heard from a group of teenagers from King's Oak Academy in Kingswood. Here, our reporter Amanda Parr reflects on her conversations with them.

As a mum to teenagers, this business of phones and what my two might be exposed to, does keep me up at night. Their devices have opened up worlds no amount of parent policing and family conversations will ever fully demystify. But if they’re able to navigate the challenges with the same kind of awareness and maturity these Kings Oak Academy students displayed in our recent chat, I’ll take heart.

Yes they tell me, they’ve seen things online they didn’t search for and didn’t want to see.

They know more’s being done to address harmful content and interestingly they welcome tighter age restrictions. But they want parents generally to step up, keep a closer eye and be more aware of where dangers may be lurking. Learning the perils at home, they say, will make young people better equipped to take personal responsibility for their own online behaviour, and take action when something’s not right.

I’m struck by their self-awareness. They know endless scrolling doesn’t serve them. But they’re also clear about the benefits of social media. Connectivity. Tik Toks that teach you things! Places to share music and ideas, or to simply say good morning to a friend. In many ways, a force for good.

But not always. Space must be made for the online safety conversation to continue. And if that conversation is to make inroads, it needs to include rational young voices like these.

Image source, Getty Images

As part of implementing the Online Safety Act, the regulator has finalised a series of child safety rules which will come into force for social media, search and gaming apps and websites on 25 July.

Ofcom says the rules will prevent young people from encountering the most harmful content relating to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and pornography. You can read more about it here.

Earlier this morning BBC Radio Bristol's Joe Sims spoke with Lucy Smith, who runs Bristol-based organisation Inclusive Change which supports parents and young people with online safety, and her 17-year-old son Tom.

Asked about what parents could do to help their children, Ms Smith said families should prioritise "being able to have conversations offline".

These chats, she said, should be "less about ‘oh that’s bad’, or ‘oh that’s awful you’re not allowed to look at it’ but more conversations like 'why is that OK? What’s wrong with that?'

"Let’s have that discussion and actually talk about these things in a wider context."

Speaking about social media more generally, her son Tom said it was "great in many ways" but added that "there are many detrimental side effects to it".

"It’s great to be in the loop and be able to communicate but I think it’s also bad for your mental health and there are many rabbit holes you can fall down," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

Our coverage today covers some upsetting themes, with conversations across our programmes looking at abuse, violence, racism and misogyny.

Many of the experts we've spoken to have been very clear about one thing - support is available and the online space can be a source of really useful information and resources if it is needed.

The BBC has its own resource - Action Line - which provides a huge amount of information about where to look for help and may be a good place to start if you have been affected by any of the issues raised today.

You can find the Action Line website by clicking here.

A group of teenagers at Bridgwater College Academy, speaking with BBC Radio Somerset's Mel Everett earlier this week, said they had been exposed to racist and violent content on social media.

The school has been giving students lessons on how to stay safe online and the group said they all felt safe online and knew how to report inappropriate content when needed.

One of the students said that some of the content she was exposed to “was upsetting to see” and she had felt like she couldn’t ask anyone about it and had to keep it to herself.

She says the personal development lessons put on by her school gives the students the option to “talk about anything” they have seen online in a “free and open” space where they can “say what you think”.

When our reporters set up YouTube and TikTok accounts for fictional 'Harry', 15, from Taunton, as part of our investigation, they were expecting to see content that aligned with his interests - football and gaming.

But while the videos 'Harry' saw over the course of the week-long experiment were among the least concerning we identified, some content came out of the blue.

This included an "anger level monitor" where the user was prompted to do a test to see how angry they were, as well as a knife review comparing blades of differing prices based on how they cut an orange.

This is the response we've had from various social media companies about our investigation.

Image source, Getty Images

Expert Advice: 'Approach their experiences in a non-judgemental way'published at 09:32 British Summer Time

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Earlier this morning BBC Radio Gloucestershire presenter Jon Smith interviewed John De Gruyther from Victims Support in Gloucestershire, which runs a programme called STREET to help young people who are experiencing domestic abuse.

They were speaking following an investigation we published this morning into how young people are experiencing domestic abuse via social media.

Mr De Gruyther told the BBC that parents worried about what their children may be seeing online that "having a conversation" with their child was "a really good first step".

"As a parent try to be open minded and don’t be scared to ask them a question," he said. "Try to approach their experiences in a non-judgemental way, which can be really difficult, but ask the question ‘how are you doing?’ and reassuring your child that there’s support out there."

From a practical perspective, he added, parents could also visit the Victim Support website, external for information and support.

Image source, Getty Images

Much of the discussion around online safety focuses on teenagers, but that doesn't mean younger children are not also at risk.

From self-image and identity to privacy and security, there is a huge range of resources aimed at primary school children available on BBC Bitesize here.

As part of our coverage, BBC West investigations reporter Francesca Osborne has looked into how teenagers can be exposed to abusive and controlling relationships through social media.

We'll be sharing some of what Francesca uncovered here on the live page, but you can read the full story here first.

Image source, Getty Images

Despite our fictional 'Aisha' from Keynsham, created as part of our investigation, being just 13 years old, she was quickly exposed to adult content on Instagram.

An innocent search for "leopard print", alongside her other interests including fashion and beauty, football, Roblox and the musicians Sabrina Carpenter and Frank Ocean, on Instagram immediately led to pictures of scantily-clad women in suggestive poses which was clearly meant for an adult audience.

Despite never searching for this term again, she was then repeatedly suggested similar content on the app's For You page. While not explicit, adult content was clearly signposted just a few clicks away.

Image source, Getty Images

In our investigation into what teens are seeing on social media, we specifically focused on the most popular platforms for this age group: TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

Our reporters Harriet and Andy approached them for comment - here's what each of them said:

TikTok

• A spokesperson for the company said its teen accounts "start with the strongest safety and privacy settings by default"
• They also said 98% of harmful content was removed before it was reported, and there were limits set on age-inappropriate material
• Parents can also use a "family pairing tool" to monitor screen time and filter content, they added

Instagram

• Meta, the parent company of Instagram, did not comment specifically but said it had specific teen accounts offering an "age-appropriate experience" for 13 to 15-year-olds
• The company is also bringing Teen Accounts to Facebook and Messenger later this month and adding more features

YouTube

• A spokesperson told us "we take our responsibility to younger viewers very seriously", adding that it had recently expanded protections for teens "including new safeguards on content recommendations"
• While they said research on its systems was "welcome", they added "it's difficult to draw broad conclusions based on these test accounts, which may not be consistent with the behaviour of real people"

Trends can 'very easily escalate'published at 08:09 British Summer Time

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As part of our coverage reporter Amanda Parr visited King's Oak Academy in Kingswood to speak with staff and students alike about their relationship with social media.

Katherine Ogden, senior principal at the school, said phone use in schools wasn't as much of a concern as what pupils were accessing out of hours.

"We've got really clear rules and systems in place [in school], she said. "It's more about what happens outside of school. What they might see online, what things might happen in their social groups, things being said on Snapchat or TikTok overnight.

"As a result their might be a friendship fallout, then when they get into school we need to manage that."

When it came to TikTok, she added, viral trends can "very easily escalate into quite significant incidents in schools", with staff "very alert" to the risks.

Image source, Getty Images

As part of our investigation, reporters Harriet and Andy set up a profile for 'Ash', a 15-year-old from Bristol who loves the gym, gaming and music - especially drumming.

Despite showing no initial interest in violence, Ash was almost immediately shown disturbing YouTube videos reviewing different weapons and how they affect the human body.

TikTok also showed an array of worrying content, from "how to hide a dead body" to guides on how to hide drugs from police.

There were also hints of adult and potentially misogynistic videos, with later clips showing more and more women dancing suggestively and one post asking the user to choose whether they preferred "the girl or the car".

BBC Radio Bristol presenter: Joe Simspublished at 07:39 British Summer Time

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'We're out of our depth. This murky online world it does feel like the Wild West, it does feel relatively lawless, and we just wonder what we're exposing our kids to.

'It's shocking for you because you didn't grow up around it, but if this is something that teenagers are looking at on a regular basis then these kind of things are normalised. And there's an assumption, because they haven't got enough context, that it's something that adults have always done since time immemorial.

"As you're going and straddling that horrible world of adolescence then they're looking to culturally assimilate. And if that's what they're being shown then that's what they believe to be something that all adults are doing."

Image source, Getty Images

As part of our investigation, which you can read in full here, we set up Instagram and TikTok profiles for 'Sophie' - a 15-year-old from Dursley, who likes Taylor Swift and romance and fantasy books, as well as spending time with friends, cute animals and mindfulness content.

What stood out about her social media feeds was how quickly the posts turned to content about mental health, including several TikTok posts about young people who had taken their own lives after being bullied, showing their gravestones.

Sophie was also exposed to videos where people spoke about wanting to end their own lives, and others concerning self-harm - though many of these were celebrities urging fans not to harm themselves.

Image source, David Wright

Earlier this week we shared the findings of our investigation, in which we set up social media accounts for six fake teenagers, with David Wright, the director of the UK Safer Internet Centre at SWGfl, an online safety and security organisation.

He said the content we showed him "presents serious risks to children's mental health and wellbeing, and we have all too often seen the tragic consequences".

"Exposure to such material can, in some cases, normalise harmful behaviours, lead to emotional distress, and significantly impair children's ability to navigate the online world safely," he added.

Image source, Getty Images

Over the course of the day we will be hearing a lot about the harmful content children are seeing on social media platforms.

But actually getting inside the algorithms that dictate the content teens are seeing on their feeds was another challenge entirely. As BBC journalists, how could we possibly understand what kids in our area are really accessing online?

Well thanks to Sophie, Maya, Aisha, Harry, Ash and Kai - all of whom are 13 to 15 - we got direct access to the feeds of teenagers on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

We should say that none of these teenagers actually exist. All of them were set up by our journalists Harriet Robinson and Andy Howard as part of a week-long investigation into how teenagers see harmful content online.

For seven days, Andy and Harriet scrolled for 10 minutes a day as the teenagers - screen recording everything they saw.

Throughout the course of the day we'll hear about what these fictional teenagers were exposed to, from innocent scrolling to graphic videos on mental health and violent crime - and what social media companies are doing to try and limit harm.

Students from King's Oak Academy in Kingswood spoke to Amanda Parr about the sorts of things they are exposed to online and how it influences their real-life relationships.