This week’s online safety updates include new UK measures around nude images and AI-generated deepfakes, findings from the latest EU Kids Online research, a useful safeguarding reflection on harmful behaviour, and a practical misinformation resource for schools and families.
Nude Images, Deepfakes and New Online Safety Measures
You may have seen this in the headlines over the last week. The UK Government has confirmed plans for new legislation intended to prevent under-18s from taking, viewing or sharing nude images on their devices.
Alongside this, Ofcom has announced further action against the spread of illegal intimate images and sexually explicit AI-generated deepfakes. From 30 September, relevant services are expected to have measures such as hash-matching technology in place to detect and prevent illegal intimate images from being shared.
Although the detail will continue to develop, both announcements demonstrate the increasing focus on preventing image-based abuse by design, rather than relying solely on children and young people to recognise and manage these risks themselves.
Links:
UK Government – New online child safety measures
Ofcom – Illegal intimate images and deepfakes
EU Kids Online 2026 – What Are Children Telling Us?
The new EU Kids Online 2026 comparative study provides a substantial insight into children’s experiences, opportunities and risks in the digital world across Europe.
It is a large piece of research, but some useful takeaways for schools include:
- Children’s online lives are deeply embedded within their everyday social, educational and leisure activities.
- Online experiences bring significant opportunities as well as risks, including social connection, entertainment, learning and access to information.
- Exposure to online risk does not automatically mean a child experiences harm. Age, gender, vulnerability, circumstances and the nature of the experience all matter.
- Children’s experiences vary considerably, reinforcing the limitations of a one-size-fits-all approach to online safety.
- The findings support a combination of age-appropriate protection, safety-by-design, platform accountability, digital literacy and trusted adult support, rather than relying on any single solution.
For those interested in the research in more detail, the full comparative study is available below.
Link: EU Kids Online 2026 – Comparative Study
Hurt People Hurt
When a young person is deliberately cruel, aggressive or harmful towards somebody else, our understandable first reaction is often to concentrate on the behaviour and the person who has been harmed.
But there can be another important safeguarding question:
What is happening in the life of the young person causing the harm?
The phrase “hurt people hurt” doesn’t excuse harmful behaviour or diminish its impact on somebody else. Instead, it reminds us that behaviour can sometimes be communicating something that a young person cannot – or will not – put into words.
This thought-provoking article from Boyz 2 Men encourages adults working with young people to look beyond the behaviour and remain curious about what might be happening underneath it.
For schools, it is a useful reminder that the young person displaying harmful behaviour may sometimes need safeguarding too.
Link: Hurt People Hurt – A Reminder for Every Adult Around Young People
Find the Fake
Misinformation is becoming increasingly difficult to recognise, particularly as AI makes convincing images, videos and other content much easier to create.
Internet Matters has a useful interactive Find the Fake resource that schools and families can use to test how well they can spot misinformation online.
Rather than simply telling children not to believe everything they see online, activities like this provide an opportunity to develop practical critical-thinking skills: considering the source, checking the evidence and recognising some of the techniques used to make misleading information appear convincing.
This could be useful as a classroom activity or something to share directly with parents and carers.
Link: Internet Matters – Find the Fake
For Parents and Carers – Find the Fake
How good are you and your children at spotting misinformation?
Internet Matters’ free Find the Fake activity is designed for families to try together. It is a simple way to start conversations about whether something online can be trusted and what children can do before believing or sharing it.
Why not try it together and see who gets the highest score?
Link: Find the Fake – Internet Matters
Keeping Up With Online Safety
Online risks, technologies and platform features continue to change quickly. These weekly updates highlight some of the developments, research and resources most relevant to schools, safeguarding professionals and families.
You can find previous updates on the Online Safety Updates page.
