Code or the Children’s Code

Children Code

Context : Last week the U.K. government brought into effect the Age Appropriate Design Code or the Children’s Code, as an amendment to the Data Protection Act, 2018, operationalising a set of regulations that will make using the digital space safer for children.

While the Code is officially in place only in the U.K., tech majors such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube have tightened safety rules for children, and campaigners hope this will become the norm globally.

The Children’s Code is a data protection code of practice for online services likely to be accessed by children. It sets out 15 standards for online services, including in apps, games, toy and devices and even news services.

What are the threats to children online?

Services such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are allowing children, some as young as 13 years old, to be directly targeted within 24 hours of creating an account with a stream of harmful content.

Despite knowing the children’s age, the companies are enabling unsolicited contact from adult strangers and are recommending damaging content, including material related to eating disorders, extreme diets, self-harm and suicide as well as sexualised imagery and distorted body images.