Rows of houses lie in front of the Canary Wharf skyline in London, Britain, on March 19, 2023.LONDON - Children in Britain stumble on violent content online, including material promoting self-harm, while still at primary school and say it is an "inevitable part" of using the internet, according to research published on Friday .
Britain passed legislation last October that set tougher rules for social media platforms, including a mandate for them to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content by enforcing age limits and age-checking measures. Messaging platforms led by WhatsApp have opposed a provision in the law they say could force them to break end-to-end encryption.
Many children said they felt they had no control over the content suggested to them and reported only a limited understanding of recommender systems - which use data to predict someone's preferred content. The children referred to these systems as "the algorithm," the report said.