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Londra Gazete, 13 October 2022 LondraGazete.com/English 7

Ofcom: A third of children have

adult social media accounts

ONE in three children lie about under-18s because they're still despite not being old enough.
their age to access adult content developing. "When children are Ms Harling said the age cat-
on social media, according to re- repeatedly exposed to images and egorizations were meant to be
search commissioned by the reg- videos that contain certain imag- "one of the main ways" in which
ulator, Ofcom. es, they're then essentially led to platforms protected the safety
Many social media sites, such act in different ways or to think of their users. "If we want to get
Britons buying up air fryers and as Instagram, do not permit un- differently about themselves or serious about protecting children
their friends." The Ofcom-com-
online, we need to make sure that
der-13s to sign up, while accounts
blankets to save money this winter for under-18s have limited func- missioned research found 32% of platforms have a way to find out
tionality. children have an account intend- exactly how old those users are,"
RETAIL sales grew last month on ter, with blankets, warm clothing, But researchers found children ed for adults, while 47% of chil- she said. "We need to work both
the back of price rises, but sales vol- and energy-efficient appliances, such were faking their ages to skirt the dren aged eight to 15 have a user with parents and young people,
umes continued to shrink, figures as air dryers and air fryers, all selling rules. Ofcom says this increases age of 16 and over. but also platforms, to make sure
from BRC-KPMG show. well." the risk of children seeing con- And 60% of children under the that the ages at which those ac-
Total retail sales increased by 2.2% The figures also showed that age of 13 who use social media counts are set are done in an ac-
in September, rising slightly from 1% food sales grew 4.6% over the three tent which may be inappropriate accounts have their own profiles, curate way."
growth in August. months to September, compared or harmful.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive with the same period last year, Anna-Sophie Harling, from
of the British Retail Consortium boosted by inflation. Ofcom, spoke to BBC News the
(BRC), said the figures showed that Elsewhere, non-food sales dipped way social media platforms cate-
people "shopped cautiously" over the by 0.4% over the quarter but in- gorised users by age had a "huge
month. creased over the month of Septem- impact" on the content they were
"While UK retail sales grew in Sep- ber after a recovery in fashion. shown. She cited the recent Molly
tember, this represented another In a bid to tackle soaring bills, Russell inquest: "That was a very
month of falling sales volumes given shoppers sent collective sales of specific case of harmful content
high levels of inflation," she said. ranges including Tesco Perfectly that had very detrimental im-
"As consumer confidence contin- Imperfect and Morrisons Naturally pacts and tragic outcomes on a
ued to fall, people shopped cautious- Wonky up 38% over the month. family in the UK. "When we talk
ly, avoiding large ticket items such as Supermarket own-label products about potentially harmful con-
new computers, TVs and furniture. saw its sales increased by 8.1% this tent to under-18s, it's content
"Many households are also prepar- month while branded items declined that might have more signifi-
ing for higher energy costs this win- by 0.7%. cant negative consequences for