The idea of legally restricting social media for young people has come into the spotlight after Australia’s government said it would introduce legislation to ban children under 16 from social media.
Asked whether the UK would follow suit, Kyle said “everything is on the table with me”, but said he wanted to see more evidence first.
He said he was also focused on making sure the powers contained in the OSA, which is coming into effect next year, were used “assertively” by the regulator.
“I just want to make sure that Ofcom knows that government expects them to be used,” he told the .
The OSA demands tech firms take more responsibility for the content on their platforms to protect children from some legal but harmful material.
Kyle said he wanted to see evidence that tech firms were delivering suitable age verification for users, and that the sector was moving towards having “safety baked in from the outset.”
Social media and messaging platforms could face significant fines potentially measured in the billions if they do not comply with the OSA.
It has already led to a range of companies introducing significant changes to how they work – with Instagram creating new teen accounts in September, and Roblox banning young children from messaging others in November.
Nonetheless, critics have consistently said the government needs to do more.
In February, the mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey told the it did not go far enough.
