Social media sites could use facial recognition technology to prevent children ... trends now
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Social media giants could use facial recognition to prevent children accessing violent content, new Ofcom guidance suggests.
The regulator said that tech firms must step up to 'aggressive algorithms' that can leave children exposed to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, violence or pornography.
Under the new code, companies must assess the risks posed to children by their platform's content and implement safety measures to mitigate these risks.
The latest draft of the Online Safety Rules outlines 40 practical measures to be carried out by tech companies with child users – with hefty fines for those found to be in breach.
This includes guidance on how to institute more robust age-verification measures to ensure children can't access harmful content on the platform.
Social media giants could use facial recognition to prevent children accessing violent content, new Ofcom guidance suggests (stock image)
Sufficient methods given in the guidance include facial identification technologies such as matching photographs to ID, or apps that estimate a user's age from a photograph.
The regulator warns that existing methods – such as relying on users to self-declare that they are over 18 – will no longer be sufficient.
Platforms have also been told that they need to redesign their algorithms to filter out the most
