The United Kingdom and the United States released a joint statement last month outlining plans focused on children’s online privacy. As indicated in the statement, they intend to engage national institutions and other organizations to support this work. They will also be forming a joint online safety working group.

The statement focused on smartphones and social media use. This aligns with recent laws passed in the US that have tried to place limits minors’ interactions with social media. There have been similar efforts in the UK. In the statement, both countries called for increased transparency from online platforms. This would take shape as accessible terms of service and online safety practices. Additionally, the statement proposes several protective measures that online platforms could implement including:

• Preventing the promotion of harmful content
• Better reporting on content moderation
• Strong default privacy settings
• Limits on targeted advertising

Putting it Into Practice: This statement is a reminder that children’s use of social media is a top concern for regulators and lawmakers.