Outcomes of Reporting Harmful Content Among 11-17-Year-Olds

This chart from the 2025 Ofcom Children’s Online Safety Tracker assesses the effectiveness of platform reporting mechanisms from the perspective of UK children (aged 11–17). It compares the period before and after the implementation of the UK Online Safety Act and Ofcom’s Children’s Codes. The data reveal a profound 'communication-action paradox': while platforms have significantly improved their procedural transparency, the rate of content removal has declined. There has been a significant shift towards 'process over outcome'. Following the introduction of the new safety duties, there was a more than twofold increase in the number of platforms informing children that 'they would look into it' (rising from 13% to 27%). Conversely, the percentage of reports where 'nothing has happened yet' fell sharply from 26% to 14%. However, this increase in communication coincided with a significant drop in content deactivation, falling from 41% to 27%.