Another study reveals that an excessive number of children are being exposed to harmful content on social media.

      A new study has revealed that despite the UK’s Online Safety Act coming into effect last year, harmful content continues to reach a significant number of teenagers, with a third of them and nearly half of all girls encountering it on social media weekly.

      A year after the implementation of the UK’s Online Safety Act, research conducted by the Molly Rose Foundation (as reported by The Guardian) shows that harmful content on social media is still affecting teenagers at almost the same rate as prior to the law's enforcement. The findings indicate that within just one week, one-third of UK teenagers and nearly 50% of girls were exposed to content related to suicide, self-harm, depression, or eating disorders.

      Study Findings

      The study, which surveyed 1,825 children aged 13 to 17 across 21 UK schools during April and May 2026, uncovered the following data:

      - More than one-third of the children (34%) had encountered high-risk content in the previous week, a slight decrease from 37% prior to the Online Safety Act's enforcement in July 2025. Researchers noted that this change is not statistically significant.

      

      - Girls were more affected than boys, with 47% of girls encountering harmful content compared to 23% of boys.

      

      - Vulnerable demographics faced even higher exposure rates, with 57% of children with low wellbeing and 40% of those with special education needs and disabilities reporting exposure.

      - TikTok accounted for 75% of harmful content exposure, which is more than three times that of Instagram, the next most cited platform at 23%.

      - Algorithm-driven recommendation feeds were responsible for 59% to 62% of harmful content exposure.

      - Of the children who saw content that encouraged or promoted suicide, one in five encountered it ten or more times on at least one platform over the course of a week.

      Intentions of the Law

      The Protection of Children Codes within the Online Safety Act impose legal obligations on platforms to shield children from content that promotes suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders. Noncompliance can lead to fines of up to £18 million or 10% of a company's global revenue.

      Despite these regulations, the foundation claims that exposure levels have changed little. The foundation attributes this stagnation largely to inadequate enforcement by Ofcom and calls for stronger regulations on algorithmic recommendation systems.

      Ian Russell, father of Molly Russell, who tragically took her life in 2017 at the age of 14 after encountering harmful online content, described the findings as “shocking but sadly unsurprising.” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is anticipated to announce next week whether the government plans to implement a social media ban for children under 16. However, the foundation's own research indicates that such a blanket ban may not be effective without simultaneously addressing the recommendation algorithms that continually promote harmful content to young users.