Bereaved families whose children's deaths were linked to social media have been sharing their stories with the BBC
Ofcom, the UK media regulator, has set out new rules for tech firms designed to keep children safe online
The Ofcom boss says any company that breaks the code could be "named and shamed" and have their minimum age raised to 18
But a group of parents write to Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer to say the new rules don't go far enough
"This is a pivotal point and we are all standing united to make sure that change happens," Esther Ghey, the mother of Brianna, tells BBC Breakfast
Ian Russell, the father of Molly Russell, says the process of getting tougher social media measures passed has been "frustrating"
Minimum age requirements to use social media are "not enforced", the technology secretary says, adding that new legislation will put the onus on tech firms to do more robust checks
Earlier, we heard from Lisa Kenevan, whose son Isaac died aged 13 after taking part in a "black out" challenge online.
She tells BBC Breakfast that Isaac was "loving, every day he told us that he loved us... highly inquisitive, highly intelligent".
'A happy, normal boy who wanted to look after his mum and dad'
A little earlier, Mariano Janin, father of Mia Janin who died by suicide in 2021 at the age of 14, told BBC Breakfast that the internet needs to have some boundaries to be safer.
“We need to have a safer internet, regulated social media. We need to learn to live with this, this is a modern tool of our everyday lives,” he said.
He adds that tech companies need to “understand the concept of safeguarding and wellbeing of our kids”.
The boss of Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, says the new proposed measures announced today mark "a big moment" for online safety.
Dame Melanie Dawes says the codes are needed to tackle harmful content that young people are being "fed" online, adding that that practice had become "normalised".
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Dawes says tech companies will now be required to look at their services and outline the risks to young people.
Pressed on whether that meant companies were being "allowed to mark their own homework", she says Ofcom would be doing the marking in a transparent manner.
We'll be bringing you more of what Dawes has to say on the new safeguards when she speaks to BBC Breakfast alongside bereaved parents shortly.
Lisa Kenevan's son Isaac, 13, officially died by misadventure. She believes he was taking part in the TikTok "choking challenge".
She says he was a "normal, happy boy, the zest of life" before he died.
Lisa says: "To have all these people on a couch, a club that we would never want to be in, it pulls us all together for a greater voice, and we just want accountability.
"If we stop one parent going through what we're going through then we've done a good job.
Quote MessageBut the sad thing is the snail's pace that is happening with Ofcom and social media platforms taking responsibility, the reality is there's going to be more cases."
'My daughter was pulled into a circus on TikTok'
Liam Walsh is the father of Maia Walsh, who died aged 13 after viewing harmful content online.
In an emotional interview on BBC Breakfast, he says Maia got "pulled into a circus" on TikTok, which included suicidal ideology.
"Things went from rosy, beautiful, positive and embracing of life," he says, until what she was seeing online "caught her on a bad day and it took her".
The government has insisted the measures announced by Ofcom today "will bring in a fundamental change in how children in the UK experience the online world".
Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan urged big tech to take the codes seriously: "To platforms, my message is engage with us and prepare," she says.
"Do not wait for enforcement and hefty fines – step up to meet your responsibilities and act now."
Most of the tech companies contacted by the BBC did not reply or declined to comment on the record.
These include Meta, the owner of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, as well as X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Reddit, Discord, Twitch (owned by Amazon), YouTube (owned by Google) and Apple.
Photo-sharing site Flickr said it was committed to safety without commenting on the specific draft measures.
Ruth Moss, whose 13-year-old Sophie Parkinson died after taking her own life in 2014, says that when she went to look at her daughter’s social media "there was a barrage of really distressing material".
Ruth tells BBC Breakfast that Sophie was required to have a tablet for her school, which “we found it really difficult to control".
She says there was parental control on content at home, with the school also having measures in place.
“But she would access the internet on the way, on the bus coming home. And I was horrified to see the amount of quantity and the actual content was really distressing," Ruth says.
"She actually managed to investigate and research how she was going to die by suicide and it was blatant. No 13-year-old should see that sort of material.”
Asked what she wants to hear from Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, who will appear on the programme after 8am, Ruth adds:
Quote MessageTikTok did not exist when Sophie was alive. So I want confirmation that this is not just a box-ticking exercise that ends today, that as technology changes the government will listen to parents and adapt and make sure that this is an ongoing issue to be dealt with.”
The mother of a 14-year-old who died after what she believes could have been an online challenge says it's "wrong" she can't access some of his social media accounts without a court order.
Ellen Roome says her son Jools Sweeney, 14, was "a happy, regular, normal child" before he died.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Roome says there is still some uncertainty around her son's death.
"We don't know why he did what he did. The coroner didn't rule that it was suicide because they couldn't prove he was in a suicidal mood," she says.
Ellen says she has tried to access his social media, including his TikTok account but the company has denied her request.
"TikTok have just said no - without a court order you can't do that."
Ellen, along with other families who make up Bereaved Parents for Online Safety group, are campaigning for the right to allow families and coroners to access data from tech companies.
Most of the tech companies contacted by the BBC have declined to respond to the draft measures announced by Ofcom today.
Esther Ghey, whose daughter Brianna was murdered age 16 in February 2023, is among the parents who have signed the letter. She has previously called for age restrictions on smart phones to prevent young people from accessing harmful material.
Ian Russell - whose daughter Molly, 14, took her own life in 2017 after viewing suicide and self-harm content on social media - has also signed the letter. Along with Esther Ghey, he met Ofcom leaders recently to discuss the reforms.
Mariano Janin is another signatory. In March, he spoke to the BBC after the death of his 14-year-old daughter Mia in 2021, who was subjected to cyber-bullying.
Breck Bednar, 14, was murdered in 2014 after being lured to his killer’s flat after being groomed through online gaming. Another eight families will also share their stories this morning.
Image source, HandoutMolly Russell, 14, died in November 2017 after viewing suicide and self-harm content online
Some of the bereaved families, speaking to BBC Breakfast on Wednesday morning
Campaign group Bereaved Families for Online Safety have written to the prime minister and leader of the opposition.
They welcome today’s steps to protect children as an “important moment” but warn “much more still needs to be done”.
The letter accuses Ofcom of a “lack of ambition” and says its proposals don’t do enough to tackle grooming and sexual abuse, or content that promotes violence, suicide and self-harm among young people.
The parents have urged Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer to take further action after the next general election regardless of who is in power, appealing to them“as senior politicians but also fathers”.
Their letter calls for stronger social media regulation, intervention in the AI industry and more education in schools about online safety, mental health and suicide prevention.
Firms which don’t comply, the families say, should face bans from operating in the UK.
Quote MessageAs bereaved parents, we have consistently been driven by a belief we can and must act to make sure no other child loses their life - and that no other family suffers in the way that we have done.
Quote MessageWe owe our children nothing less than ensuring the online world changes completely and comprehensively, and we know many millions of parents also share that vision."
Bereaved Families for Online Safety
Ofcom, which regulates online safety, has published a proposed new set of rules it says will help keep children safe online from graphic content and material which promotes violence or self-harm.
It comes after the UK adopted the Online Safety Act last year, which imposes tougher rules on sites that can be accessed by children.
Ofcom's new rules feature more than 40 practical measures, including age verification processes, external to stop children accessing harmful material.
Social media firms will be told to make changes to their algorithms - which are used to decide what is shown in people's social media feeds - in order to ensure adult or inappropriate material is filtered out.
Companies will also be told they must take swift action to remove dangerous material if it slips through the net.
Good morning, and thank you for joining us on a big day for children's safety online.
All morning on BBC Breakfast, we will be hearing from the families of 12 young people whose deaths were linked to social media and harmful content online.
Their appearance comes as Ofcom, the regulator responsible for online safety, publishes its proposed new rules for tech firms, which it says will help keep children safe.
But the bereaved families we’ll be hearing from today have written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to say they fear the changes announced today don’t go far enough.
We’ll also hear from Science Secretary Michelle Donelan and Ofcom chief executive Melanie Dawes.You can watch the discussion live by pressing the Play button at the top of this page.