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 27 October 2026

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A 13-year-old speaks up about a gamer asking for photos, and police find nine more childrenGaming

A 13-year-old speaks up about a gamer asking for photos, and police find nine more children

27 October 2026 · Gaming

Gulf News reports that a 13-year-old boy in Dubai told his guardian a man he met in an online game was offering in-game perks in exchange for personal photos, and then asked about his sister. His guardian reported it, and Dubai Police found nine other children the same man had allegedly approached, none of whom had told anyone. The case has gone to prosecutors, and these are allegations at this stage. Police urged parents to report suspicious contact rather than just blocking the account, to keep screenshots and usernames as evidence, and to stay involved in what their kids do online. They also noted that offenders move across games, social media and messaging apps.

What this means for us

One child telling a trusted adult protected nine others. Make sure your kids know that 'free' in-game rewards in exchange for photos is a red flag, and that they won't be in trouble for telling you. If it happens, screenshot it and report it. In Australia, that's eSafety.

Source: Gulf News

Ofcom: nine months in, UK children are seeing about as much harmful content as beforePolicy

Ofcom: nine months in, UK children are seeing about as much harmful content as before

22 October 2026 · Policy

Ofcom has published its first review of how the UK's children's safety rules are working, and the result is sobering. Looking at the first nine months since the duties started in July 2025, it found no significant change in the share of children running into harmful content. Among 11 to 17-year-olds surveyed about the previous four weeks, 14% had seen suicide or self-harm material, 23% eating disorder content and 49% hate content. Ofcom says the review covers a period before it stepped up pressure on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Snap, Roblox and Facebook, and it did see some improvement on a few services. Next it wants to widen the list of content treated as priority harm, including depression and body stigma content, and will publish guidance on what strong age checks look like.

What this means for us

Rules take time to bite, so it's worth not leaving everything to the platforms. Check the content and recommendation settings on your child's apps, and keep asking what they're seeing in their feeds.

Source: Ofcom (reported by ITV News and Forbes)

Canada launches its first Children's Privacy Code for apps and websitesPolicy

Canada launches its first Children's Privacy Code for apps and websites

20 October 2026 · Policy

Canada's Privacy Commissioner has launched a Children's Privacy Code that sets out how organisations should treat young people's personal information online. It was shaped with a youth council of 14 to 17-year-olds. The code expects meaningful consent, with a parent's agreement for children under 13, and privacy information written so a child can actually understand it. Kids should be able to correct or delete their data, and companies should not profile them for targeted ads or use manipulative design to nudge them into oversharing. Settings such as location tracking and profile visibility should start switched off. It's open for public comment until January 2027, and no compliance deadline has been set yet.

What this means for us

Privacy settings are a big part of keeping kids safe, and 'off by default' is the right idea. Until it's the norm, take a few minutes to turn off location sharing and make accounts private on your child's apps.

Source: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

India's Supreme Court says children have a right to the internet, and rejects blanket age bansPolicySocial Media Ban

India's Supreme Court says children have a right to the internet, and rejects blanket age bans

17 October 2026 · Policy

India's Supreme Court has ruled that the right to access the internet extends to children, and that blanket restrictions on kids going online are disproportionate. The judges said no country has shown that such bans make children safer, and warned that age limits mean checking every user's age, which brings its own surveillance and privacy risks. They also noted that kids who are breaking the rules may hide online problems from parents for fear of punishment. The court didn't rule out sensible safeguards: it pointed to a child mode, private-by-default accounts for pre-teens, limits on contact from unknown adults and parental consent. It also told the government to build a national database to help find and remove child abuse material across platforms.

What this means for us

It's a useful reminder that the debate isn't just ban or no ban. Whatever the law says, safer settings and a child who feels able to tell us when something goes wrong do a lot of the work.

Source: LiveLaw (India)Read the ban guide →

Australia's Digital Duty of Care bill heads to a Senate inquiryPolicy

Australia's Digital Duty of Care bill heads to a Senate inquiry

15 October 2026 · Policy

The federal government has brought its Digital Duty of Care bill to Parliament, and it is expected to go to a Senate inquiry that reports in November. If it passes, platforms would have to take reasonable steps to protect under-18s from content that promotes crime, eating disorders, pornography or misogyny, and from posts that cause serious distress. Users over 16 would also get tools to shape their feeds, including a feed without algorithms. The minister's proposed power to declare new harms has been dropped from this version, so any new harms would need Parliament to act. There are still debates ahead, including whether people should be able to take big tech to court themselves.

What this means for us

This is about making platforms responsible for safer design, not just leaving it to parents. It's still early days, so keep using the controls already available on your kids' apps and devices.

Source: The New Daily

Canada funds online safety education for Indigenous youthPolicy

Canada funds online safety education for Indigenous youth

15 October 2026 · Policy

The Canadian government has announced C$800,000 over five years for the National Association of Friendship Centres to run the BEACON Project. Friendship Centres across the country will teach young Indigenous people, in a way that respects their culture, about the risks of online sexual exploitation. The work involves youth, families, Elders and local services, so support is built around the people kids already trust. The project will also gather better information on what Indigenous young people experience online, so future policy reflects their voices.

What this means for us

A good reminder that online safety works best when it's led by the community and the people kids already trust, not handed down from above. Your own kitchen table counts too.

Source: Public Safety Canada

Eight US states take OpenAI to court over ChatGPT and childrenAI

Eight US states take OpenAI to court over ChatGPT and children

14 October 2026 · AI

Eight US states, including Iowa, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia, have each filed their own lawsuit against OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. They say the chatbot breaks consumer protection laws by harming kids and misleading adults. Iowa claims it has given risky medical advice and fed paranoia, while sounding warm and caring to vulnerable users. Arizona says it nudges teens to share personal details and can steer them away from telling a parent, a friend or the authorities. OpenAI says it already has child safety protections, that ChatGPT is meant for people 13 and over with parental permission under 18, and that it wants to work with states on rules for the whole industry.

What this means for us

These are claims in court, not findings, and they'll take a while to play out. In the meantime, ask your kids what they use AI for, and gently check it isn't becoming the place they go instead of a person.

Source: Fortune (Associated Press)

Ofcom: talking to strangers is parents' biggest worry about kids gaming onlineGaming

Ofcom: talking to strangers is parents' biggest worry about kids gaming online

13 October 2026 · Gaming

Ofcom has pulled its research together in a new 'Growing Up Gaming' report. It found 88% of UK children aged 3 to 17 play games, and more than half of those who play online at least sometimes play with people they've never met in real life. One in five do it all or most of the time. Parents' top concerns are strangers (64%), bullying (60%), inappropriate content (59%) and pressure to spend money in-game (51%). Yet only 43% set rules about who their child can play with, and 9% set no gaming rules at all. Ofcom says it has pushed platforms including Roblox, PlayStation and Xbox to strengthen protections for younger players, and offers a simple 'Check, Chat, Change' guide for families.

What this means for us

Most of us worry about strangers but never get to the settings. Spend ten minutes together on who can message your child in their favourite game, then keep the chat going about who they play with.

Source: Ofcom

UK charity: reports of children facing sextortion are already at a record high this yearScams

UK charity: reports of children facing sextortion are already at a record high this year

9 October 2026 · Scams

The Internet Watch Foundation says 462 sextortion reports confirmed as child abuse imagery came through the Report Remove service in the first half of 2026. That's already 17% more than the 394 recorded across all of 2025. Almost all of them, 95%, involved boys. Much of the imagery was taken by the young person themselves after a criminal tricked or pressured them online. The IWF is calling on the UK government to move quickly on rules that would have phones and tablets block nude images from being sent or received on children's devices. It also reminds under-18s that Report Remove is a free, confidential way to get an image taken down.

What this means for us

Boys are the main target, and it often starts with a friendly stranger who moves the chat somewhere private. Tell your kids that if this happens it's never their fault, and they won't be in trouble for telling you. In Australia, eSafety can help with reports and removal.

Source: Internet Watch Foundation

UNICEF: age limits and bans alone won't keep kids safe onlinePolicySocial Media Ban

UNICEF: age limits and bans alone won't keep kids safe online

8 October 2026 · Policy

UNICEF's Philippines office has urged lawmakers to look beyond age limits as the country debates keeping under-18s off social media. It says bans alone are unlikely to protect children, and points out that the real harms, like grooming, sexual abuse and sextortion, can happen on any platform. Its rapid analysis found nearly 40 places around the world are discussing, proposing or putting in place age-based restrictions. UNICEF warns that age checks can raise privacy risks, that parental consent is hard to rely on when kids share devices, and that a poorly designed ban could cut children off from information and support or push them to less regulated corners of the internet. Instead it wants platforms to build in safety from the start, regulators to have real powers, and families to get better digital literacy and reporting services.

What this means for us

Age limits can help, but they're only one piece. What protects kids day to day is still a safe design, good settings and a child who feels able to tell us when something's wrong.

Source: UNICEF PhilippinesRead the ban guide →

Police warn that some kids who've been targeted online are telling a chatbot instead of a personAI

Police warn that some kids who've been targeted online are telling a chatbot instead of a person

8 October 2026 · AI

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett spoke to the ABC on October 8 about new research from Adelaide University and the AFP-led counter child exploitation centre. It found that about a third of young people who'd been sexually victimised online either told no one or only confided in an AI chatbot. Among boys who'd been victimised, it was two in five. More than one in seven young people also said they ask AI for personal or counselling-style advice at least once a week. Barrett was clear that a chatbot is not a human and can't replace real support, and that police can't be the only safety net. She also said bans alone aren't the whole answer.

What this means for us

Kids often stay quiet because talking to a parent feels awkward, so a chatbot can feel easier. Keep the door open: chat about what they do online in small, regular moments, and tell them they'll never be in trouble for coming to you. Watch for withdrawal or sudden changes in mood.

Source: ABC News (Australia)

Common Sense Media says ChatGPT for teens is an 'unacceptable risk'AI

Common Sense Media says ChatGPT for teens is an 'unacceptable risk'

7 October 2026 · AI

Common Sense Media has tested the teen version of ChatGPT and says several of its safety features don't work the way OpenAI promises. The group's reviewers found it still responded like a friend when teens treated it like a person, that alerts to parents about suicide, self-harm or eating-disorder risk didn't reliably fire, and that it sometimes failed to point a teen in crisis towards help. Some protections did work, such as refusing sexual role-play. Common Sense wants the teen version pulled back to adults until it's safer. OpenAI disputes the findings, saying the testing didn't reflect how its safeguards work and that parental controls may not have been fully active during some tests. Common Sense also notes it receives funding from tech companies, including OpenAI.

What this means for us

Even with a 'teen mode' switched on, a chatbot can still feel like a friend to a young person. Check the parent settings yourself, and ask your kids what they actually talk to it about.

Source: Associated Press via ABC News

Meta rolls out new AI checks aimed at ads that quietly lead to child abuse materialSocial

Meta rolls out new AI checks aimed at ads that quietly lead to child abuse material

7 October 2026 · Social

On October 7 Meta announced a set of new AI tools for Facebook and Instagram, reported by the Press Trust of India. The focus is on ads and posts that look harmless but are really signposts to illegal content hosted elsewhere. The company says it will now look at where an ad leads, not just what it shows, and will use AI to sweep for material earlier systems missed, spot banned users who set up new accounts, and test its own defences. Meta reported acting on 33.2 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content worldwide in the first half of 2026, with more than 97 per cent found by its own systems before anyone reported it. The announcement comes after Indian authorities pressed Meta over such ads earlier this year.

What this means for us

It's good to see platforms being pushed on ads, but these are Meta's own figures and we can't check them ourselves. Keep reporting anything that looks wrong using the in-app tools, and remind your kids never to click through on odd links or ads.

Source: Press Trust of India via ThePrint