Tech industry group pushes back against Ofcom age assurance guidance

Industry-funded consortium Digital Trust & Safety Partnership (DTSP), which includes members such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and Apple, has pushed back against Ofcom’s guidance on protection from illegal harms online as part of the Online Safety Act.

The UK’s pioneering regulation on internet safety, which became law in October 2023, contains a range of measures for internet platforms to manage harmful content. Among them are age assurances such as age verification and age estimation designed to protect children online, some of which rely on biometrics. As the UK communications regulator responsible for carrying out the legislation, Ofcom is currently carrying out consultations on implementing the Act, the first of which closed on March 6.

In its response to the consultation, the group said that it welcomes the inclusion of the commitment to “advance digital trust and safety, including specific measures to protect women, children, youth and persons in vulnerable situations against harms.”

“However, such a focus should build upon existing efforts within the industry, in the trust and safety field, as well as complementary efforts by other stakeholders,” the group said.

Tech companies have been resisting pressure from regulators for years to curb the potential harms of their products and services. The comments from DTSP can be seen as an attempt to advance the idea that the industry can regulate itself.

With its tagline “promoting a safer and more trustworthy internet,” the group has come up with its own methodology for assessing and evaluating trust and safety practices based on internal assessments by companies. It has also been promoting the idea of a shared framework of best practices as a solution for managing online harm.

“DTSP underscores that a holistic commitment to trust and safety, including robust implementation of the DTSP Best Practices Framework, is an important means of protecting young people online,” the organization writes.

The group recently released a report titled Age Assurance: Guiding Principles and Best Practices in which it lays out its arguments against one-size-fits-all solutions in age assurance.

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometrics  |  children  |  Digital Trust & Safety Partnership (DTSP)  |  Ofcom  |  Online Safety Act