Ofcom: Snap, Meta and Roblox Commit to Stronger Anti-Grooming Measures

What Changed

Ofcom said on 21 May 2026 that Snap, Meta and Roblox have confirmed they will bring in new safety measures to protect children from online strangers, ranging from tighter default settings for children's contacts and friendship groups to AI detection tools and direct chat controls. Ofcom's report said the changes had not yet been implemented at that date. Snap agreed to adopt the recommended grooming-prevention measures in Ofcom's Illegal Harms Codes, so that adult strangers will be prevented from contacting children by default; Ofcom says these protections apply only to children using Snap in the UK. Meta committed to developing a setting that hides teens' connection lists on Instagram by default and to AI tools that detect likely sexualised conversations between adults and teens in Instagram direct messages, and Roblox committed to giving parents the ability to switch off direct chat services entirely for under-16s. Ofcom also said TikTok and YouTube failed to commit to any significant changes to reduce harmful content being served to children, maintaining their feeds are already safe for children.

What to Review

• •Treat these as announced commitments rather than confirmed features, and check your child's contact and direct chat settings in each app yourself.
• •Look at who is on your child's friends or connections lists on Snapchat, Instagram and Roblox.

Parent Actions