Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the risk of children being groomed through applications and games accessible to children such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Roblox.

Grooming through social media, messaging apps, and online games is a serious threat. Government is unequivocal in its commitment to protecting children from these crimes and we are determined to ensure that offenders cannot use these platforms to target children with impunity.

The Online Safety Act introduces world‑leading protections for children by placing robust duties on tech to mitigate risks to children. Crucially, the Act requires companies whose services pose heightened risks to children’s safety companies, such as those with chat functions, friend‑finding features and livestreaming tools, to implement stronger and more proactive safeguards, including effective moderation, robust age assurance and safer design. Ofcom, as the regulator, will have strong enforcement powers to ensure compliance.

Alongside platform regulation, the Government is taking decisive action to prevent harm before it occurs. In line with new commitments in the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, we are clear that children must be protected from being coerced into sharing nude images and from being drawn into cycles of sextortion, grooming and abuse. That is why we have set out an ambitious goal to make it impossible for children in the UK to take, share or view a nude image, and we are working proactively with industry to make this a reality. This complements wider work to ensure that children’s access to smartphones and digital services is safe, appropriate and protective of their wellbeing.

The Government continues to work closely with law enforcement, industry, and child protection experts to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of efforts to tackle online child sexual abuse.