UK public want social media platforms to be ‘safe by design’

84% of adults in the UK believe that regulating social media platforms to ensure they are safe before public use would keep everyone safe online, according to new polling published today by the Online Safety Act Network (OSAN).  

The polling comes as 44 leading online safety organisations urge Ministers to adopt a new, legally binding Safety by Design Code of Practice to ensure social media platforms are designed to be safe for all users, regardless of age.

While the government’s children’s online safety consultation has focused on bans and age restrictions, without structural change to how platforms are designed, tested, and built, users of all ages will continue to be harmed – including women and girls subjected to harassment and abuse online.

The polling clearly supports calls for Ministers to adopt a ready-made Safety by Design Code of Practice that would, for the first time, define in law what safety by design means and require companies to implement it.

The representative poll of UK adults conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Online Safety Act Network found:

• 84% are convinced that requiring companies to prove their products are designed and tested to be safe before use would keep all users safe online – the same standard already applied to toys, food, household appliances, and most other products.
• 61% agree that social media companies take little or no responsibility for designing products that are safe for users.
• 79% believe we need comprehensive laws to regulate social media platforms because platform operators will otherwise prioritise their business interests over user safety.
• 62% think that platforms would only take the necessary action if it did not impact their profits.
• 65% say social media platforms  and their leadership, not parents or individual users, should hold primary responsibility for ensuring their products are designed to be safe from the start, followed by the government.
• 75% believe that AI chatbots must be designed to be fully safe before they can be used.
• 64% agree platforms must ensure higher levels of safety for children and young people than for adults.
• 43% feel they have limited or no control over their own safety online.
• Only 2% think platforms are doing a good job of reducing the risk of harm to users.

To address these issues, the Online Safety Act Network, 5Rights Foundation, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, FlippGen, Glitch, Internet Watch Foundation, Molly Rose Foundation, Refuge, and the NSPCC have co-produced the Safety by Design Code of Practice. These organisations along with a further 35 leading online safety campaigners are calling on the government to adopt it as the central framework for its response to the consultation, to direct Ofcom to include it alongside its other codes, and to amend the OSA to clearly define what “safety by design” means and how companies must implement it.

The Code applies the same three-tier safety logic the UK already uses for physical products: design out risks at source where possible; manage what remains with technical and policy safeguards; and treat reporting, takedowns and redress as a last resort — never the first line of defence. The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee recently called on the Government to adopt this approach.

The organisations behind the Code are calling on Government to:

• Adopt the Safety by Design Code of Practice as the central framework for its response to the children’s online safety consultation.
• Direct Ofcom to include it alongside its other codes covering illegal harms and the protection of children.
• Amend the Online Safety Act to clearly define what “safety by design” means and ensure the successful adoption of the Code.

The Code of Practice would require that:

• Social media platforms are safety-tested before launch, not after harm — with the people most affected by harm involved in the testing.
• Children’s accounts are private by default — with strangers unable to find or message them.
• Addictive features are turned off by default — autoplay, infinite scroll, streaks, lootboxes, push alerts. They can be opted into where safe; they should not be the starting point.
• A ban on ‘dark patterns’ — the manipulative design tricks that push users into choices they would not otherwise make.
• Real accountability — a named board-level person at each of the social media platforms to be responsible for safety, with public reporting on what’s working and what isn’t.
• Redress — routes for people harmed by services, or activity on them, to seek action from companies.

Rebecca Hitchen, Head of Policy & Campaigns at the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said:

“The public overwhelmingly wants tech companies to put children’s safety before profits – it’s time they were made to. Young people are being harmed online in deeply gendered ways, with huge consequences not just for individuals but on equality and freedoms across society. The government must listen to the public and adopt a legally binding Code of Practice to ensure social media is safe for all users, regardless of age.”

Maeve Walsh, Director, Online Safety Act Network, said:

“Harm is a design choice, not an accident. Yet online, we still expect users, including children, to be responsible for their own protection. The public overwhelmingly wants social media platforms to be safe for everyone before use. The Online Safety Act explicitly requires that services must be ‘safe by design’ but this has not been delivered. It’s time now for Ministers to implement the Safety by Design Code of Practice to legally require platforms to design out harms from the start.” 

Leanda Barrington-Leach, Executive Director, 5Rights Foundation, said:

“The only sustainable way to prevent growing harm to children online is to require tech companies to prove their products are safe before they can launch them. This is not a radical idea; it reflects how we regulate every other industry and, consequently, ordinary people’s expectations as this polling shows. Instead of pandering to tech giants and shifting the onus onto already overwhelmed parents and children, it is time for the Government to shoulder its responsibility by implementing and enforcing safety by design as envisioned by the Online Safety Act.”

Baroness Kidron, Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords, said: 

“Safety by design is not just a principle, it is a practice – a hierarchy of actions that a company can make to ensure that their product is safe. Unless and until government and regulator set out what they mean, practically, by safety by design, they cannot check that it is being delivered. Parliament worked tirelessly to insist on product safety. The authors of this code have done a service to publish this code; it is an urgent and necessary part of online safety, and government should act quickly to ensure that it is widely adopted.”

Kerry Smith, Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation, said: 

“Wherever we look online, children are being deliberately targeted and sexually exploited – and the perpetrators doing this are finding it far too easy.

“Safety by design needs to be more than a slogan – it needs to be the foundation of a safe internet, where every new tool, product, and platform is thoroughly and meticulously made to keep children safe and prevent their abuse.

“We need to see the Governments and regulators set the standard here and enforce the rules which will dictate the kind of internet we will have in the future. Children and young people deserve safety online, and this Code will be crucial in achieving that.”

Andy Burrows, Chief Executive of Molly Rose Foundation, said: 

“For far too long tech platforms have rolled out products to children before they are safe, with devastating consequences. It’s time to stand up to Big Tech and demand safety by design as standard so social media and other online spaces are safe and age-appropriate as a price to pay for doing business in the UK. The Government must act quickly and decisively to put this code in place and ensure Ofcom robustly enforces it as was expected by the Online Safety Act.”

ENDS