Ofcom wants to regulate body-shaming and depression content. Can platforms even detect it?
Ofcom's October 2026 report on content harmful to children recommends adding body-shaming and depression content to regulated categories. However, the regulatory proposal faces challenges: Ofcom's own evidence shows no significant improvement in children's content exposure nine months after existing child safety rules took effect in July 2025, YouTube and TikTok have not committed to major requested changes, and automated detection systems struggle to interpret context-dependent harms. The report also does not estimate enforcement costs for the new regulations.
Key points
- Ofcom proposes regulating body-shaming and depression content
- Existing child safety rules show no significant impact yet
- Automated systems struggle to detect context-dependent harms
- 61% of 11-17 year-olds still encounter bullying content
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