SWGfL welcomes the growing international focus on the responsibilities of online platforms following recent legal developments highlighting the potential harms associated with platform design and user experience. These developments have reinforced that the way online platforms (specifically social media sites) are designed can significantly shape user behaviour and, in some cases, contribute to harm.
Recent cases have brought renewed attention to concerns around features that encourage prolonged engagement and exposure to harmful content, particularly for younger users. A jury in the United States has just found that specific social media platforms had been designed in ways that contributed to harm, marking a significant moment in the global conversation about platform responsibility.
Social Media Consultation
In the UK, this comes at a critical time as the government’s “Growing up in the online world” consultation seeks to explore how best to protect children and young people online, including considerations around platform design and age assurance.
SWGfL is supportive of this direction of travel. We believe that meaningful progress on online safety requires a holistic approach that goes beyond content moderation to address the systems, features and incentives that underpin digital platforms. This includes greater accountability for how services are designed, how risks are assessed, and how safeguards are implemented from the outset.
We encourage policymakers to use this moment to strengthen expectations across the board, ensuring that all online platforms are held to consistent, robust standards that prioritise user safety, by design and by default.
As the consultation progresses, SWGfL looks forward to contributing its expertise to help shape protections going forwards.
