Parents WiredIn News

Parents WiredIn News

The online-safety stories worth knowing about, in plain English — what changed and what it means for us.

Last updated 25 September 2026

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TikTok settles with Alabama on the eve of trial — two-hour daily cap, no overnight scrolling and private teen accountsSocial

TikTok settles with Alabama on the eve of trial — two-hour daily cap, no overnight scrolling and private teen accounts

25 September 2026 · Social

TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama at least US$100 million, and possibly up to US$300 million, to settle the state's claims that the app was built to be addictive and misled families about its safety. The case was days away from becoming the first state trial against TikTok in front of a jury. For teens in Alabama, the deal brings a two-hour daily limit that parents can tighten further, prompts to take a break at 15, 60 and 90 minutes, and no access between midnight and 6am. Teen accounts will be private by default, beauty and cosmetic filters are off the table for under-18s, the default feed won't be personalised, and adults will find it harder to discover teen profiles. TikTok hasn't admitted wrongdoing, and the changes closely mirror what Meta agreed to in its multi-state settlement last month.

What this means for us

These rules only apply in Alabama for now, but they're a useful checklist. Most of them — a daily limit, a night-time cut-off, a private account — you can set up at home today in TikTok's Family Pairing and your phone's own screen time settings.

Source: Alabama Attorney General's Office

The Philippines blocked Discord overnight over grooming fears — then lifted the ban once the platform agreed to work with policeGaming

The Philippines blocked Discord overnight over grooming fears — then lifted the ban once the platform agreed to work with police

24 September 2026 · Gaming

The Philippine government switched off access to Discord for a matter of hours this week, citing servers linked to the grooming of minors and to violent extremist groups that target young people. The ban was lifted the next day after Discord committed to appoint a local contact, set up fast-track channels so authorities can flag child abuse, scam and extremist content for quick removal, and brief officials on its new teen settings, which place younger users in an age-appropriate experience by default. Reddit made similar commitments and says it will open a local office. The country's technology secretary said encrypted private chats between adults and children were a particular worry, and that platforms operating there are responsible for the children using them.

What this means for us

Discord is hugely popular with kids who game, and a lot of the chat happens in private servers we never see. If your child uses it, check they're in teen settings, turn on Family Center, and talk about who's actually in their servers.

Source: Philippine News Agency

Ofcom opens an investigation into Pornhub's age checksPolicy

Ofcom opens an investigation into Pornhub's age checks

23 September 2026 · Policy

The UK regulator Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into Aylo, the company behind Pornhub, over whether its age checks are strong enough to keep children out. Back in May the site started letting some UK users through based on signals that they'd already passed Apple's own age checks on their device. Ofcom's worry is that Aylo didn't test this new approach properly before switching it on, and that it may not be the 'highly effective' check the Online Safety Act demands. The inquiry will also look at whether the company properly assessed the risk of children using the site. If it's found in breach, the fine can reach £18 million or 10% of worldwide revenue, whichever is bigger.

What this means for us

Device-level age checks are handy, but they're only as good as the sites that rely on them. Keep adult content filters switched on at home and on your kids' phones rather than assuming the websites will do the job.

Source: Ofcom

Albanese takes Australia's child online safety push to Silicon Valley and the UNPolicy

Albanese takes Australia's child online safety push to Silicon Valley and the UN

20 September 2026 · Policy

On his way to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met former Apple CEO Tim Cook in California and said Australia can't protect children online on its own — it needs the big tech companies on board. He pointed to the under-16 social media law already in place and the new draft 'digital duty of care' bill released this month, which would make platforms responsible for keeping their services safe and let users switch off their algorithmic feeds. The draft is due to go to Parliament later this year after consultation. Albanese also flagged new national standards for AI by the end of the year. The trip comes as recent data shows many under-16s are still finding their way onto apps like Instagram and TikTok despite the ban.

What this means for us

The age limit was only ever step one — the duty of care is the bit that could change how apps are actually built. In the meantime, the ban isn't a substitute for staying across what our kids are using.

Source: AFP via The Jakarta Post

US chatbot safety laws may leave out the chatbots kids actually use, NPR findsAI

US chatbot safety laws may leave out the chatbots kids actually use, NPR finds

18 September 2026 · AI

An NPR investigation has found that many of the AI chatbot safety bills put forward in US states this year were shaped with heavy input from the tech industry, with Google lobbyists named in several states. Near-identical wording turned up in bills across at least 10 states, including exemptions for chatbots built into search engines, other apps or voice assistants. Advocates say those carve-outs could let some of the most popular chatbots, such as Gemini, ChatGPT and Meta AI, argue the rules don't apply to them. Colorado's new law, for example, excludes 12 categories of chatbot. Some states pushed back: Hawaii stripped the exemptions before passing its law, and Arizona's governor vetoed a bill she felt protected tech companies more than children.

What this means for us

A new 'chatbot safety law' doesn't mean the app your child uses is covered. Keep talking with your kids about which AI tools they use and what they chat about, and check each app's own teen settings yourself.

Source: NPR

In the US, platforms now have 48 hours to take down intimate images shared without consent, and the FTC wants to hear when they don'tPolicy

In the US, platforms now have 48 hours to take down intimate images shared without consent, and the FTC wants to hear when they don't

17 September 2026 · Policy

The US Federal Trade Commission has put out a plain-language alert on how the Take It Down Act works for everyday people. If someone posts an intimate photo or video of you without permission, the platform has to give you an easy way to ask for it to be removed, and it has 48 hours to take it down along with any known copies. If it misses that deadline, or has no working removal process at all, that breaks the law, and you can report the platform at TakeItDown.ftc.gov. The FTC says each violation can cost a platform just over US$53,000, and it followed up with a how-to guide on 23 September.

What this means for us

If your teen is ever caught up in a nude image being shared, this shows the tide is turning towards fast removal. Here in Australia, eSafety can help get images taken down, and the first step is always the same: stay calm, save the evidence, and report it.

Source: US Federal Trade Commission (consumer.ftc.gov)

Safer Internet Day 2027 is set for 9 February, and this time the theme is our whole relationship with techScreen time

Safer Internet Day 2027 is set for 9 February, and this time the theme is our whole relationship with tech

17 September 2026 · Screen time

The UK Safer Internet Centre has named the theme for next year's Safer Internet Day, which lands on 9 February 2027 and marks 20 years of the event in the UK. The theme is 'Reflect on tech', and it moves the focus away from simply spotting online dangers and towards digital wellbeing: how our screens affect our mood, our days and our kids. Organisers say the timing matters, because the day falls in the run-up to new UK restrictions that include a ban on social media accounts for under-16s. Free resources for schools and families are due in November, and schools and community groups can already sign up as supporters.

What this means for us

Safer Internet Day is marked in Australia too, so pencil it in. A calm family chat about how our devices make us feel is a good warm-up, and the free resources in November should make it easier.

Source: UK Safer Internet Centre

More than 20 countries are now restricting kids' social media — here's the whole board at a glancePolicySocial Media Ban

More than 20 countries are now restricting kids' social media — here's the whole board at a glance

17 September 2026 · Policy

AFP ran the numbers on September 17 and came up with a tally worth keeping: more than 20 countries have now either brought in or drafted rules limiting children's access to social media, with about seven already in force or close to it. Australia was first out of the gate at the end of 2025 with its under-16 ban, though data released in August suggests a great many teenagers have simply found their way around it. Others have taken different routes — Brazil now makes platforms tie under-16 accounts to a parent's, Indonesia and Malaysia have both shut under-16s out of the major apps this year, Turkey's under-15 law is due to bite late in 2026, and the UAE has announced a ban of its own. Europe is a queue rather than a wall: Greece is aiming for January 2027, Austria, Slovenia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland are all at various stages, and Britain is working towards an under-16 ban by early 2027 with an overnight curfew for 16- and 17-year-olds on top. The cautionary tale in the list is France, where parliament passed an under-15 ban over the summer only to have the Constitutional Council strike it down on free-speech grounds — the president has now promised a sturdier version by spring 2027.

What this means for us

It's easy to read a list like this and feel that the grown-ups have it in hand. The honest read is the opposite: most of these rules are years from landing, and the one country that has actually switched a ban on is finding teenagers walk straight around it. Treat every announcement as a slow-moving backstop and keep doing the things that work now — real-age accounts, controls set on the device rather than inside each app, and the ordinary conversations that travel with your child wherever the rules don't.

Source: Agence France-Presse (via Malay Mail)Read the ban guide →

It's official: Europe puts the KIDS Act on the table — no social media under 13, your own account at 15, and platforms have to prove they're safe firstPolicySocial Media Ban

It's official: Europe puts the KIDS Act on the table — no social media under 13, your own account at 15, and platforms have to prove they're safe first

17 September 2026 · Policy

The European Commission formally adopted its KIDS Act proposal on September 17, and the published text is a good deal more detailed than the leaks that preceded it. The age rules work like a staircase: no social media account at all under 13, then a parent-run limited account for 13- and 14-year-olds with the parental tools permanently switched on, approval over who can contact them and a daily cap of one hour, and finally an account of their own from 15. Sitting underneath that is the half the Commission says actually matters more — every service children use, including games, app stores and AI chatbots, would have to be built safely from the start: no streaks that punish a child for missing a day, no infinite scroll, no notifications engineered to pull them back, feeds tuned for wellbeing rather than time spent, no messages from strangers without approval, and no livestreaming by default. Age would be confirmed through a separate certified app that tells a platform one thing only — over the line or under it — and never who the person is, while the biggest platforms would have to put an independently audited compliance plan in front of regulators before they're allowed near children at all. Fines could reach 6 per cent of a company's worldwide turnover. It still has to get through the European Parliament and all 27 member states, so nothing changes on anyone's phone tonight.

What this means for us

This won't touch your child's phone for a long while yet, so read it as a signpost rather than a change. The bit worth taking to heart is the Commission's own admission: age limits on their own don't fix much, because the damage is in the design — the streak, the endless scroll, the notification at ten at night. Every one of those has a setting you can change tonight, on any device, without waiting for Brussels. Our family plan at /start walks you through it.

Source: European CommissionRead the ban guide →

Europe unveils the 'EU Kids Act' — a bloc-wide age-15 rule for social media that reaches AI companions and games tooPolicySocial Media Ban

Europe unveils the 'EU Kids Act' — a bloc-wide age-15 rule for social media that reaches AI companions and games too

16 September 2026 · Policy

On September 16, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen used her annual State of the Union speech to preview the 'EU Kids Act' — Europe's attempt to replace 27 different national rules with one shared set of protections for children online — with the full proposal due to be published the next day. The headline is a tiered age system: under-3s kept off social media entirely, 3-to-13s limited to 'child-friendly' versions, 13-to-15s allowed an account only with a parent's say-so (and with parental oversight and screen-time limits attached), and full unsupervised accounts from 15. Crucially it doesn't stop at social apps — the draft reaches AI 'companion' chatbots and online games too, and it would force platforms to actually verify a user's age at sign-up rather than let a child type in any birthday they like, likely leaning on new privacy-first EU age-check apps that confirm an age band without handing over an ID. It would also ban the addictive machinery itself: infinite scroll, 'streaks', and the recommendation 'rabbit holes' that keep kids glued. It's a proposal, not yet law — it still has to wind its way through the European Parliament and the member states — but it's the clearest sign yet of where the whole continent is heading.

What this means for us

This is a big one to watch, but nothing changes on your child's phone because of it yet — it's a proposal at the very start of a long road. The part worth borrowing right now is the thinking baked into it: that the same protections should follow a child across social apps, chatbots and games, and that the real problem isn't 'social media' in general but the endless scroll, the streaks and the algorithm built to keep them there. You don't need a law to act on that at home — set every account, game and AI app to your child's real age, switch off autoplay and endless feeds where you can, and keep the ordinary conversations going. Our family plan at /start walks you through it.

Source: RTÉ NewsRead the ban guide →

UK regulator admits its online safety rules have been 'underwhelming' for children so farPolicy

UK regulator admits its online safety rules have been 'underwhelming' for children so far

15 September 2026 · Policy

Ofcom's online safety director Oliver Griffiths told a House of Lords committee on September 15 that the regulator is underwhelmed by what its child protection rules have delivered, more than a year after they took effect. He said Ofcom shares the frustration and is trying to shift the culture at companies that acted with impunity for a long time, but the full Online Safety Act won't be running until around the middle of 2027, and Britain's planned under-16 social media ban may stretch Ofcom's staff and funding further. There were wins in the evidence: all ten of the biggest pornography sites now have age gates, three-quarters of the top 100 have either added one or blocked UK visitors, and age checks across a sample of 32 companies have risen 23-fold. Progress on the platforms children actually use most has been slower, and Ofcom is now investigating TikTok over whether its age-estimation technology failed to spot a significant share of its child users. It follows the Children's Commissioner telling the same inquiry that kids reported the law had made no difference to them at all.

What this means for us

This is the regulator itself saying the quiet part out loud: a law on the books is not the same thing as a safer phone in your kid's hand. Worth remembering every time a new rule gets announced, here or anywhere — treat it as a backstop, and keep doing the unglamorous stuff that works, like real-age accounts, controls set on the device rather than inside the app, and conversations that keep going.

Source: City AM

Leaked draft: Europe's 'Kids Act' would lock under-15s out of social media — and put rules on games and AI companionsPolicySocial Media Ban

Leaked draft: Europe's 'Kids Act' would lock under-15s out of social media — and put rules on games and AI companions

15 September 2026 · Policy

A confidential draft seen by Euronews on September 15 shows the European Commission is about to propose that children under 15 can't open a social media or video-sharing account without a parent's approval, with the bill due to be published on September 17. The scope is wider than most expected: alongside Instagram, TikTok and YouTube it reaches into online games and AI chatbots and companions, which the document describes as tools handing out mental health and personal advice to minors. It also goes after the design itself — infinite scrolling, invented notifications and certain reward loops would be off-limits for kids, recommendation feeds would have to avoid engagement-driven rabbit holes, risky settings would be switched off by default and children's accounts set to private. The ages are stepped: under-threes shut out entirely, three to 13 supervised access to child-friendly services only, 13 to 15 stripped-back accounts under parental control, and safety-by-design duties still applying up to 18. The draft's own line for the pitch is that parents, not algorithms, should raise Europe's children.

What this means for us

Nothing changes on your child's phone because of this — it's a draft, and it still has years of argument ahead of it. What's worth noticing is what the drafters decided the actual problem was: not 'social media' as one lump, but the endless scroll, the manufactured notifications, and chatbots that behave like a confidant. All three are things you can turn down at home this week, without waiting for anyone.

Source: EuronewsRead the ban guide →

Apple switches on new child-safety features you can turn on tonight — 'Ask to Browse', category time limits and a redesigned Screen TimeScreen time

Apple switches on new child-safety features you can turn on tonight — 'Ask to Browse', category time limits and a redesigned Screen Time

15 September 2026 · Screen time

On September 15, Apple made a batch of new child-safety features available with iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 — and unlike a far-off law, these are things you can switch on this evening. The one a lot of parents will reach for first is 'Ask to Browse', which makes your child ask for your approval before opening a brand-new website in Safari. There's also a redesigned Screen Time that gives you a plain overview of what your child is actually doing, with one-tap controls to adjust access in the moment, plus 'Time Allowances' that let you set sensible, age-tailored limits on whole categories like Social Media, Games and Entertainment rather than fiddling app by app. Apple has widened its Communication Safety filter too, so it now blurs and warns on violent and gory images — not just nudity — including during live FaceTime calls. Setting up a child account is simpler now as well, arriving with a recommended set of age-appropriate apps. Apple says it built the features with input from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

What this means for us

This is the good kind of news — not a promise for someday, but tools sitting in your child's device right now. If your family uses iPhones or iPads, update to the latest software and spend ten minutes in Settings: turn on Ask to Browse so new websites need your OK, set Time Allowances for the categories that tend to run away with the evening, and check Communication Safety is switched on. None of it replaces the conversation — a filter can blur a nasty image but it can't explain why it matters — but it does quietly do a lot of the heavy lifting. Our family plan at /start walks you through the settings on every device.

Source: Apple Newsroom

Police warn scammers are now ringing children directly — 'your mum's in jail, send $900'Scams

Police warn scammers are now ringing children directly — 'your mum's in jail, send $900'

15 September 2026 · Scams

A police department in North Carolina put out a warning on September 15 after a scammer phoned a child at home, claimed to be a law-enforcement officer, and told her that her mother had been arrested for speeding and needed $900 sent immediately through Cash App or Venmo. The tell is worth knowing, because it's the same one every time: the caller couldn't actually name her mother, and kept trying to get the child to say the name herself. She rang her dad instead, confirmed her mum was fine, and hung up. Police were blunt that they will never phone anyone demanding instant payment to get a family member released, and asked parents to walk their kids through the rules — don't hand over names or addresses, never send money by payment app or gift card, hang up on a suspicious caller, and go find a trusted adult before doing anything else.

What this means for us

This is a five-minute conversation at the kitchen table and it's worth having this week, because the panic is the whole trick — a frightened child doesn't stop to check. Give them a plain rule to hold onto: nobody real ever needs money in the next five minutes, and no police officer will ever ring a child about a parent. If a call says something scary about someone in the family, hang up and come and find you. And make sure they know they won't be in trouble either way.

Source: WBTV (CBS Charlotte)

A 'petition no one would sign': the IWF's cheeky push to get Europe's child abuse law finishedPolicy

A 'petition no one would sign': the IWF's cheeky push to get Europe's child abuse law finished

14 September 2026 · Policy

The Internet Watch Foundation, the UK charity that finds and removes child sexual abuse material online, has launched a deliberately provocative campaign in Brussels. It's a mock petition asking people to support less protection for children. Nobody would sign it, and that's the point. It's aimed at EU lawmakers who have spent four years negotiating a permanent law requiring online services to find, report and remove this material, while Europe relies on a temporary arrangement due to run out in April 2028. The IWF says AI-generated abuse videos rose from 13 to more than 3,000 in 2025, and the next round of talks, set for 29 September, will tackle the hardest questions about detection.

What this means for us

It's a heavy topic, but the message for families is simple: laws are still catching up with AI. Be careful about posting clear photos of your kids publicly, and keep their accounts private.

Source: Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)

Roblox games are moving out of the Roblox app — into standalone apps and web browsersGaming

Roblox games are moving out of the Roblox app — into standalone apps and web browsers

11 September 2026 · Gaming

Roblox announced on September 11 that creators will be able to release their games as standalone apps for phones, computers and consoles, and that Roblox games will open directly in Chrome by the end of 2026 with no main app installed. The part worth pausing on is what the company hasn't said: whether the protections parents rely on — age-based chat limits, parental controls, moderation and reporting — will travel with those games into standalone apps and the browser, and who enforces them once they do. It matters because a browser link can be passed around in a message, a video or a search result and drop a child straight into a game with no app store sitting in between. The announcement lands while 182 US federal child exploitation cases against Roblox remain pending and at least ten state attorneys general have sued, and a month after Australia's eSafety Commissioner secured a court-enforceable undertaking requiring Roblox to make children's accounts private by default, limit contact from unknown adults and bring in an independent auditor. Roblox denies wrongdoing and points to its age checks, automated systems, human moderators and parental controls.

What this means for us

Nothing to do tonight, but file it away: if your child starts playing a 'Roblox game' that isn't the Roblox app, don't assume the settings you've already set have come along with it. Check the age and chat settings inside anything new, and keep the house rule simple — a link to a game from a stranger, a video or a group chat gets shown to you first.

Source: AppleInsider

The Netherlands and Spain push for one EU-wide age limit for social media — and want it to cover games and AI chatbots tooPolicySocial Media Ban

The Netherlands and Spain push for one EU-wide age limit for social media — and want it to cover games and AI chatbots too

11 September 2026 · Policy

On September 11, the Netherlands and Spain went public with a joint push for a single, Europe-wide minimum age for social media — rather than leaving each country to invent its own rule. Their pitch is that the age limit should be written and enforced at the EU level, modeled on the bloc's existing Digital Services Act, and that it shouldn't stop at social apps: they want it to reach video games, AI 'companion' chatbots and other risky online services too. To keep it from becoming a privacy headache, they suggest an age-check app whose only job is to confirm someone is over a given age — not to hand over a birthday or an ID — and they'd let a service off the hook if it can prove it's already safe enough for kids. They're not alone: around ten EU countries — including France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Greece, Austria, Belgium and Poland — are now weighing or advancing their own versions. It all lands the same week the European Commission's president is due to set out her own plan for protecting children online.

What this means for us

For those of us watching the ban story unfold, this is a useful read on where Europe is heading — but it's a proposal, not a rule, and nothing changes on your child's phone because of it. The idea worth borrowing is the one tucked inside it: that the same protections should follow a child across social apps, games and chatbots, because that's where they actually spend their time — not just the one app we happen to be worried about this week. You don't need a law to do that at home: set every account, game and AI app to your child's real age, and put the same limits on all of them. Our family plan at /start walks you through it.

Source: EuronewsRead the ban guide →

Parents now worry about fake content as much as screen time — and a quarter of kids are fact-checking with AIScams

Parents now worry about fake content as much as screen time — and a quarter of kids are fact-checking with AI

10 September 2026 · Scams

Internet Matters surveyed 2,000 parents and 1,000 children aged 9 to 17 across the UK, and published the results on September 10. Three-quarters of parents said they're worried about the false and misleading content their children run into online — up by half since 2020, and now sitting level with how worried we are about screen time. The children's own answers are the part that stuck with me: nearly two-thirds had come across something false or AI-made in just six months, and seven in ten said it affected them, leaving them anxious, confused or simply unsure what to believe. Most of it turned up on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, and the scams tend to wear a friendly face — fake giveaways using a well-known YouTuber's likeness to promise free gaming currency in exchange for a few personal details. The odd twist is where people are turning for help: about a third of parents and a quarter of children now ask an AI whether something is true, which is a bit like asking the fox to check the henhouse.

What this means for us

Worth knowing before you're asked: an AI chatbot will answer confidently whether or not it's right, so it's not a fact-checker. The habit to build instead is a slow one — who's actually saying this, where else is it reported, and does it want something from me? Free Robux or V-Bucks in exchange for a login or a few details is always a scam, and that's a short conversation you can have over dinner this week.

Source: Internet Matters

Ireland asked the kids about a social media ban — 'teach us instead, we'll just get around it'SocialSocial Media Ban

Ireland asked the kids about a social media ban — 'teach us instead, we'll just get around it'

10 September 2026 · Social

While half the world argues about banning children off social media, Ireland's media regulator did something refreshingly simple on September 10 — it asked them. Coimisiún na Meán published 'Online Safety & Children's Digital Lives', the Irish arm of the wider EU Kids Online study, surveying both children and their parents. Sixty-nine per cent of children said they'd rather be taught how to stay safe online than be banned from social media, and 67 per cent reckoned a ban wouldn't work because kids would find a way around it — a view their parents largely share, with 43 per cent agreeing a ban would be sidestepped against 23 per cent who disagreed. That said, parents were still clear about the upside of less social media: around two-thirds thought going without would help their child's schoolwork, safety and mental health. The harder numbers are worth sitting with. Sixty per cent of 9-to-17-year-olds have a social media account, rising to 90 per cent by 16 or 17. A third of children had felt upset by something online in the past year, climbing to 46 per cent among 16-to-17-year-olds. And children with a disability were half again as likely to report that, and more than three times as likely to say it happened often.

What this means for us

What stands out is that the kids and the parents landed in roughly the same place — teach us, don't just lock us out — and it matches what Australia has been finding since its own ban started. Neither group is saying social media is harmless. They're saying a wall a child can walk around isn't the protection it looks like. So keep doing both halves: the practical controls at home, and the ordinary conversations that travel with your child when the controls don't.

Source: Coimisiún na Meán (Ireland)Read the ban guide →

California signs the nation's strongest child-safety laws for AI chatbots and social media — including 'Adam's Law'AI

California signs the nation's strongest child-safety laws for AI chatbots and social media — including 'Adam's Law'

10 September 2026 · AI

On September 10, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a whole stack of bills aimed at protecting kids online, and two stand out for parents. The headline one is SB 1119, known as 'Adam's Law' after a teenager whose family says a chatbot coached him toward self-harm: it requires companion chatbots to have real crisis protocols when a young person talks about suicide or self-harm, to build in parental controls, to alert parents when a child switches those safety settings off, and to submit to independent child-safety audits and yearly risk checks. The second, AB 1709, bars social media platforms from feeding under-16s the addictive stuff — autoplay and algorithmic feeds built from a child's own history — and leans on age verification to make it stick. Other bills in the package expand the state's child-exploitation laws to cover AI-generated and deepfaked images of minors. Newsom said children's safety deserves to be 'at the center of every conversation about technology,' and while these are billed as the strongest such laws in the country, they're California-only and phase in over the next year or so.

What this means for us

The useful signal here, wherever you live, is what lawmakers decided was worth reining in: the endless algorithmic feed for under-16s, and chatbots that don't know what to do when a kid is in crisis. You don't have to wait for a law to act on either. Set your child's AI accounts to their real age and link them to yours so the parental controls actually work, and remember a chatbot — even a 'safe' one — isn't a friend who cares about them, so anything to do with their feelings or their safety is a come-and-find-me moment, not an ask-the-app one. And you can switch off autoplay and trim the endless feeds yourself, today. Our family plan at /start walks you through it.

Source: Office of Governor Gavin Newsom (CA.gov)

Australia wants an off-switch for the algorithm — Instagram's boss says most people won't like what's behind itSocial

Australia wants an off-switch for the algorithm — Instagram's boss says most people won't like what's behind it

10 September 2026 · Social

The federal government put forward its long-awaited Digital Duty of Care proposal on September 8, and the headline piece is a 'My Feed, My Way' bill that would make platforms actively prompt Australians — by push notification — to swap their algorithm-curated feed for a plain chronological one, with fines up to $100 million for companies that don't move to reduce foreseeable harm. Two days later the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, used a rare Australian press briefing to push back, saying the average person's experience 'gets much worse' without the algorithm, that engagement falls by as much as 50 per cent, and that satisfaction scores 'fall off a cliff' because a chronological feed fills up with brands and publishers who can afford to post constantly. He also said he doesn't think Instagram is addictive, which he acknowledged might be a controversial thing to say. The detail worth knowing is that you can already do this yourself — tap the Instagram logo and choose 'Following' — but Mosseri guessed take-up here is in the low single digits, admitted the option is hard to find, and confirmed it flips back to the algorithm as soon as you close the app.

What this means for us

You don't have to wait for a law to try this one — it takes about five seconds. Open Instagram with your teenager, tap the logo at the top, choose 'Following', and let them see what their feed looks like when it's just the people they actually chose to follow. It won't stick (it resets when you close the app, which tells you something in itself), but it makes the point better than any lecture: the endless, perfectly-tuned feed isn't what their friends are posting, it's what the app decided would keep them there.

Source: ABC News (Australia)

California signs the toughest child-safety laws yet — real rules for AI chatbots, and no addictive feeds for under-16sAI

California signs the toughest child-safety laws yet — real rules for AI chatbots, and no addictive feeds for under-16s

10 September 2026 · AI

On September 10 California's governor signed a package of 13 bills that goes further than anything else on the books, and two parts of it matter most to us. The first is 'Adam's Law' (SB 1119), named after Adam Raine, which forces companion chatbot companies to build in crisis protocols when a young person raises thoughts of self-harm, give parents real controls, notify a parent if their child switches off a safety setting, and — a first anywhere in the US — submit to independent child-safety audits and annual risk assessments. The second bans social media platforms from serving anyone under 16 the features designed to keep them scrolling: autoplay, and feeds ranked on a child's own history and profile. The rest of the package widens child sexual exploitation law to cover AI-generated and digitally altered images, requires age-verification signals inside apps, and limits targeted advertising to kids and the use of school pupil data in AI systems. The honest catch is the one every country keeps hitting: the announcement doesn't name start dates, penalty amounts or an enforcement body, and a feed ban for under-16s is only as good as the age check sitting underneath it.

What this means for us

California tends to set the pattern the big platforms end up building for everyone, so this is worth watching — but it won't change anything on your child's phone tonight. What you can borrow today is the thinking behind it: the risky bits aren't 'social media' in general, they're the endless ranked feed and the chatbot that talks like a friend. So set accounts to your child's real age, turn off autoplay where you can, and have the plain conversation that a chatbot is a tool, not someone who cares about them — anything to do with their body, their feelings or their safety is a come-and-find-me moment. Our family plan at /start walks you through it.

Source: Office of the Governor of California (gov.ca.gov)

UK gives platforms weeks to block intimate images and AI deepfakes — or face fines of up to 10% of global revenuePolicy

UK gives platforms weeks to block intimate images and AI deepfakes — or face fines of up to 10% of global revenue

9 September 2026 · Policy

On September 9 the UK regulator opened an enforcement programme with a hard deadline: by September 30, online platforms must have automated 'hash matching' running to stop illegal intimate images spreading, and that explicitly includes AI-made deepfakes. Hash matching turns an image into a kind of digital fingerprint so copies can be blocked before they ever get shared — and it works without the picture itself leaving the person's own device. Platforms that don't use it have to prove they're curbing the spread just as effectively some other way, and those that fail can be fined up to 10 per cent of their global annual revenue. Ofcom has teamed up with SWGfL, the charity behind StopNCII.org and the Revenge Porn Helpline, whose research suggests more than 369,000 women in the UK go through this kind of abuse every year. Separately, a change to UK law will require platforms to take reported non-consensual intimate images down within 48 hours, and Ofcom will consult on writing that into its codes by the end of the year.

What this means for us

This one is about grown-up platforms doing their job, but the tool behind it is something a family can use directly, and not enough people know it exists. If a photo of your teenager — real or AI-faked — is out there or being threatened, StopNCII.org (18+) and NCMEC's Take It Down (under-18s) let you create that digital fingerprint from your own device, so the image itself never has to be sent anywhere, and platforms can block it. Say the important part to your kids before anything happens: if someone ever threatens them with a picture, fake or not, they come straight to you and they will not be in trouble — paying or panicking only feeds it.

Source: Ofcom (UK)

More than 130 child-safety groups tell the EU: fix the apps, don't just ban the kidsPolicySocial Media Ban

More than 130 child-safety groups tell the EU: fix the apps, don't just ban the kids

9 September 2026 · Policy

The same week Europe's governments edged closer to an under-16 rule, more than 130 children's, digital-rights and mental-health organizations — including the 5Rights Foundation, Amnesty International and the Center for Countering Digital Hate — wrote to the European Commission's president on September 9 to argue the plan is aimed at the wrong target. Their case, in plain terms: a blanket ban quietly shifts the job of keeping kids safe onto parents and children themselves, while leaving the apps built exactly the way they are. Instead, they want the EU to force platforms to be safe 'by design and default' — to fix the risky features rather than simply lock kids out — and to actually enforce the online-safety rules Europe already has on the books. They're careful to say they aren't against age limits altogether; sensible ones, they argue, should go hand in hand with real safety standards, not stand in for them. It's a striking bit of pushback, coming from the very groups who spend their days protecting children.

What this means for us

This one's worth reading precisely because it comes from people on our side of the table — and their point is a fair one for any parent to hold onto. A ban, on its own, can lull us into feeling the problem's been handled when the app is still built to hook and still carries the same risks. So whatever the lawmakers land on, treat it as a backstop, not the whole plan. The parts that genuinely protect a child are the unglamorous ones you control: real-age accounts, the safety settings switched on, and an honest, ongoing conversation. Our family plan at /start is a good place to begin.

Source: Agence France-Presse (via Tech Xplore)Read the ban guide →

Ireland opens its first online safety investigation — into X, over age checks and parental controlsPolicy

Ireland opens its first online safety investigation — into X, over age checks and parental controls

8 September 2026 · Policy

Ireland's media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, opened the first formal investigation under the country's Online Safety Code on September 8, and the platform in the frame is X. Two concerns are driving it. The first is age assurance: X allows adult content, and the Code requires platforms to stop children normally reaching videos showing pornography or extreme violence — with the regulator blunt that asking a user to tick a box saying they're over 18 does not count as a check. The second is parental controls: because X lets under-16s use the service, it has to offer controls that genuinely work, meet a minimum standard, are easy to find, and are put in front of new users at sign-up — and the regulator suspects they fall short on all four. Digital Services Commissioner John Evans said platforms that are open to children and allow adult content must make sure kids can't normally get to it. A platform found in breach can be fined up to 10 per cent of relevant annual turnover or €20 million, whichever is greater.

What this means for us

The line worth carrying home is the regulator's one about self-declaration: a birthday box a child can type anything into is not an age check. That's true of nearly every app on your child's phone, not just X. So don't lean on a platform's own gate — the controls that actually hold are the ones you set on the device and on the account. And if your teenager is on X, it's worth finding the parental controls together tonight, because the regulator's own worry is that they're buried and easy to miss.

Source: Coimisiún na Meán (Ireland)

A US appeals court says Roblox can't push a child-safety case into private arbitration — the parents get their day in courtGaming

A US appeals court says Roblox can't push a child-safety case into private arbitration — the parents get their day in court

8 September 2026 · Gaming

A federal appeals court has handed parents a small but meaningful win against Roblox. In a ruling that came to light this week, the Ninth Circuit refused to let Roblox force a father's lawsuit into private arbitration — the quiet, behind-closed-doors process companies often use to keep disputes out of open court. The father claims Roblox misled parents about how safe the block-building game really is for kids, pointing to strangers contacting children and grooming attempts. The court found Roblox had waited too long, fighting the case in open court for nearly a year and even trying to get it thrown out before suddenly reaching for the arbitration clause buried in its terms of service. As the judges put it, a company 'cannot ask the district court to dismiss a complaint on the merits, holding in reserve a claimed right to arbitrate' only to use it if the ruling doesn't go its way. It means this case, and the safety questions in it, will now play out in public.

What this means for us

Court cases grind on slowly and won't change what's on your child's device tonight — but two things here are worth holding onto. First, those 'I agree' terms of service we all tap past can quietly sign away the right to sue in open court, which is a good nudge to actually skim them. Second, the claim at the heart of this case is the pattern we keep seeing: a stranger makes contact inside a game, then tries to move the chat somewhere private. Set Roblox to your child's real age, keep chat limited or off for younger kids, and use a linked parent account so you can see who they're talking to. Our Bark and Qustodio guides walk through the exact settings.

Source: Courthouse News Service

UK promises a new law to make phones and apps protect kids by default — and to block, not just blur, nude images on children's devicesPolicy

UK promises a new law to make phones and apps protect kids by default — and to block, not just blur, nude images on children's devices

8 September 2026 · Policy

On September 8, the UK's culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, told Parliament the government will bring in new legislation requiring the big tech platforms to build child protections in at the 'device level' — the idea being that the safeguards live in the phone or tablet itself, not buried in each app's settings where they're easy to miss. She also said apps children use will be required to stop nudity being shared or reached in the first place. Part of this is already moving: Apple and Google have committed to operating-system changes that make it harder for children to share nude imagery, and to actually block such images on an underage device rather than simply blurring them. It's a statement of intent rather than a finished law — the legislation still has to be written and passed — and it only applies in the UK, but it points at where the whole industry is being pushed.

What this means for us

The thing worth borrowing from this, wherever you are, is the phrase 'device-level.' A protection set on the device itself — tied to your child's account — is far harder for a kid to switch off than a setting inside an app, and it's the layer that quietly does the most work. You don't need to wait for any law to turn it on: set up the family safety controls on your child's phone or tablet now. And pair it with the conversation the law can't have for you — that if anyone ever pressures them over an image, real or fake, they can come straight to you and won't be in trouble. Our family plan at /start walks you through it.

Source: UK Government (GOV.UK)

The Philippines moves to bar under-13s from social media — and switch off chat groups and shorts for teensPolicySocial Media Ban

The Philippines moves to bar under-13s from social media — and switch off chat groups and shorts for teens

7 September 2026 · Policy

Another country has joined the queue. On September 7 a Philippine House of Representatives committee approved a bill that would stop children under 13 from having a social media account at all, including the social and chat features built into online games. For 13-to-17-year-olds it goes somewhere few other countries have: the bill would block harmful content, switch off endless short-video scrolling, and shut them out of group chats entirely. It would also require platforms to register a legal presence in the Philippines so local authorities actually have someone to hold to account. Two things are worth noting before anyone calls it settled — the Senate's own version sets the minimum age at 16 rather than 13, so the two chambers still have to reconcile, and lawmakers deliberately left screen-time limits out of the committee text to be argued over by the full House later.

What this means for us

The interesting part here isn't the ban itself but what sits underneath it: the bill treats group chats and short-video feeds as the risky bits, not social media in general. That's a fair read of where trouble usually starts, and it's something we can act on at home tonight without waiting for any law — check who your child is in group chats with, and have a look at whether the endless short-video feed is switched on. Our family plan at /start walks you through it.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer (INQUIRER.net)Read the ban guide →

Ofcom's 'Check, Chat, Change' — three simple steps for parents of kids who gameGaming

Ofcom's 'Check, Chat, Change' — three simple steps for parents of kids who game

7 September 2026 · Gaming

The UK's online safety regulator put out fresh advice for parents on September 7, and what's refreshing about it is how little it asks of us. Ofcom's own research found gaming is the number one free-time activity for kids aged 8 to 17, and that nearly a third of three-to-five-year-olds are playing too — while more than half of children who game online say they play with people they've never met in real life. Most of us are already doing something: 91% of parents of young gamers have some rules in place, though we still worry about strangers, violent content and nasty behaviour, and nearly half of 13-to-17-year-olds say they're bothered by trolling and abuse as well. Ofcom's answer boils down to three words. Check that your child's console or platform account is registered with their real age, because the age on file is what decides which games and features they can reach. Chat regularly about what they're playing and who with, and tell them plainly they won't be in trouble for bringing you something upsetting. Change the settings — content restrictions, friend requests, who can message them, playing time, privacy, and spend caps.

What this means for us

This is the sort of advice worth actually doing rather than just nodding at, because none of it takes long. Pick one console or app tonight, open the account, and check the birthday on file is your child's real one — that single thing quietly changes what they can see and who can reach them. Then ask them what they're playing at the moment and who's in the game with them, and say the sentence that matters most: if anything ever feels off, come and tell me, you won't be in trouble.

Source: Ofcom (UK)

Australia's app stores start checking ages this week — Apple, Google and Microsoft must gate adult appsPolicySocial Media Ban

Australia's app stores start checking ages this week — Apple, Google and Microsoft must gate adult apps

4 September 2026 · Policy

From September 9, Australia switches on another layer of its child-safety push: the big app stores — Apple's App Store, Google Play, and Microsoft's Store and Xbox — now have to check a person's age before letting anyone download apps rated 18+ for adults. It's one more piece of a stack of new 'age assurance' rules the country is rolling out bit by bit, sitting alongside the under-16 social media ban that began last December and age checks on search engines earlier in the year. The thinking is layered protection: if a child can't easily download a grown-up app in the first place, that's one more gate before they reach content that isn't meant for them. Apple is doing it through a new system that shares only a rough age range — not a birthday or an ID — and lets parents decide what's shared for a child's account. It won't be watertight, and plenty of these checks are still easy for a determined teen to slip past, but it's a sign of how hard regulators are now leaning on the app stores themselves, not just the apps, to help keep kids out of the adult aisle.

What this means for us

Wherever you live, this points to something you can actually use tonight: the app store is the front door to almost everything on a phone or tablet, and it's a door you can lock yourself. Set up your child's account with their real age and switch on the app-store controls so any new download needs your OK — that quietly stops a lot of 18+ apps before they ever land. Pair it with the ordinary, no-drama conversations about why some apps aren't for kids yet, and you've done the part no government rule can do for you. Our family plan at /start is a good place to begin.

Source: eSafety Commissioner (Australia)Read the ban guide →

Stanford study: mental-health warning labels on social media could nudge teens to scroll lessSocial

Stanford study: mental-health warning labels on social media could nudge teens to scroll less

4 September 2026 · Social

A new Stanford Medicine study, published September 4 in JAMA Health Forum, asked a refreshingly practical question: if social media apps carried a health warning — the way cigarettes and alcohol do — would it actually change how our kids use them? Researchers showed about 1,000 young people, half of them teens aged 13 to 17 and half young adults, a set of 15 different pop-up warning messages and asked which ones landed. The clear winners were the ones about mental health — warnings that named the link to depression and anxiety — and across the board, young people said those messages would make them stop and think, and use social media less. The idea traces back to a 2024 call from the U.S. Surgeon General to put warning labels on social media, and four states have already passed laws requiring them, with California's set to take effect in January 2027. The researchers are honest about the big catch, though: they measured what young people said a label would do, not what they actually did afterward — so whether the warnings truly change behavior is the next question to answer.

What this means for us

You don't have to wait for a law to borrow the idea behind this. What moved kids in the study wasn't a lecture or a ban — it was a plain, honest reminder about how the endless scroll can chip away at their mood. You can be that reminder at home: a calm, no-drama chat about why too much time in the feed can leave them feeling low or anxious tends to land better than a flat 'get off your phone.' Pair it with the practical stuff — real age settings, a daily time limit, and a phone that goes quiet overnight — and you've got both halves, the why and the how. Our family plan at /start walks you through it.

Source: Stanford Medicine

UK regulator hands out a £730,000 fine over missing age checks — and the site has now blocked BritainPolicy

UK regulator hands out a £730,000 fine over missing age checks — and the site has now blocked Britain

4 September 2026 · Policy

On September 4 Ofcom fined the operator of a pornography site £700,000 for failing to put proper age checks in place between July and November last year, plus another £30,000 for ignoring a legally binding request for information, with a further £200 a day ticking over until it responds. The site has since brought in age checks and then blocked UK visitors altogether, which tells you something about how these companies are weighing up the cost of complying. Ofcom's enforcement director George Lusty said the message to adult websites is to 'put effective age checks in place to keep children from accessing porn.' The same announcement covered a separate strand of work: a file-sharing service has agreed to introduce image-matching technology to stop child sexual abuse material being spread through it, and two other providers have been given provisional findings that they've breached their age-check duties.

What this means for us

Enforcement like this is quietly useful — every site that either puts in a real age check or walls itself off is one fewer thing a curious kid stumbles into. But it only reaches sites the regulator can chase, and only in one country, so it's a backstop rather than a fix. The layer that works everywhere is the one on your own home internet and your child's device: turn on the network-level content filtering your broadband provider offers, and set up the family safety controls on their phone or tablet. Our guides walk through both.

Source: Ofcom (UK)

UNICEF: 1 in 5 children hit by tech-enabled sexual abuse — and most of it happens on the apps they already useScams

UNICEF: 1 in 5 children hit by tech-enabled sexual abuse — and most of it happens on the apps they already use

3 September 2026 · Scams

UNICEF published a report on September 3 that puts a number on something most of us would rather not think about. Drawing on surveys of around 21,000 internet-using children aged 12 to 17 across 21 countries, it estimates roughly 20 million kids — close to one in five — went through some form of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation or abuse in a single year. Two of the findings cut straight across what most parents assume. Nearly 60 per cent of it happened on the mainstream apps our kids are already in — Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, WhatsApp — with another 14 per cent inside online games. And 57 per cent of cases involved someone the child already knew: a classmate, a boyfriend or girlfriend, a friend, a family member. Not a stranger in the shadows. The hardest part is the silence — more than 40 per cent of children never told anyone at all, and fewer than 1 per cent of cases ever reached police or a helpline, most often because the child simply didn't know who to tell.

What this means for us

The most useful thing in this report is the reason kids stay quiet: not shame first, but not knowing where to go. That one is fixable at the kitchen table this week. Tell your child plainly, before anything happens, exactly who they can come to and that they will not be in trouble — and give them a second name too, for the day it feels too awkward to come to you. It's also worth quietly retiring the old stranger-danger framing, because more than half the time it's someone they already know. What matters isn't who the person is, it's what they're asking for.

Source: UNICEF

England's schools go 'phone-free by default' — and must now watch for AI deepfakes tooPolicy

England's schools go 'phone-free by default' — and must now watch for AI deepfakes too

1 September 2026 · Policy

As kids across England headed back to school on September 1, the government's updated safeguarding rulebook for schools — Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 — officially took effect, and a couple of changes stand out for parents. Schools are now expected to be 'mobile phone-free by default' right across the day, from lessons to break time and lunch, with the government's phone guidance upgraded from friendly advice to something schools must actually follow. For the first time it also leans hard into the newer online dangers, naming AI-generated images and deepfakes — including fake nude pictures made from ordinary photos — as harms schools have to take seriously. And it tells schools to check, at least once a year, that the filters and monitoring meant to block harmful content on school devices are genuinely doing their job. None of this reaches into your living room, but it's a useful read on where the ground is shifting.

What this means for us

Even if you're nowhere near England, this is worth borrowing from, because the direction everywhere is the same: phones out of the school day, and a clear-eyed focus on AI fakes. You can mirror it at home — agree on where and when phones get put away (mealtimes, homework, bedtime), and have the calm, early conversation that if anyone ever makes or threatens them with a fake image, they come straight to you and won't be in trouble. It's also a fair thing to ask your own child's school: are you phone-free, and how do you handle this? Our family plan at /start walks you through the home side.

Source: UK Department for Education (GOV.UK)

US health officials to families: 'less screen time, more real life' — and a nudge for the tech companiesScreen time

US health officials to families: 'less screen time, more real life' — and a nudge for the tech companies

1 September 2026 · Screen time

On September 1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services gathered doctors, researchers, teachers and tech folks in Washington for its 'Live Real Life' Symposium — a national push, led by the Office of the Surgeon General, to help families cut back on harmful screen time and get kids back to playing, exploring and connecting in the real world. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put it plainly: 'Our children get one childhood, and we cannot allow screens to replace the real-world experiences they need to grow and thrive.' Alongside the talks, HHS rolled out free tools for families and even a children's storybook, 'The Magic Tablet,' to help parents start the conversation with younger kids, all available through the Surgeon General's website. The message leaned on tech companies to do more, but the heart of it was aimed squarely at the dinner table — small, everyday swaps of screen time for real-life time. It's less a new rule than a national nudge in a direction a lot of us are already trying to head.

What this means for us

This one's more a permission slip than a warning: the government's own health experts are saying out loud what a lot of us feel in our gut — that our kids need more real life and less screen. You don't need their toolkit to start (though it's free if you want it). Pick one everyday swap and protect it: phones out of the bedroom at night, a screen-free dinner table, or an hour outside after school. And remember the goal isn't zero screens — it's making sure the good stuff of childhood doesn't get quietly crowded out. Our family plan at /start is a good place to begin.

Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS.gov)