Ofcom research has found that two thirds of teens and young adults encountered a damaging piece of content – but only one in six go on to report online harms.

The findings come as the Government’s Online Safety Bill continues to make its way through Parliament. Ofcom said it will enforce these new laws and has already started regulating video sharing platforms established in the UK – such as TikTok, Snapchat and Twitch.

To help young people to report online harms, Ofcom will work with social media influencer Lewis Leigh, and behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings, to launch a new campaign which highlights the importance of reporting posts they may find harmful.

Ofcom’s Online Experiences Tracker reveals that most young people aged between 13 and 24 (65%) believe the overall benefits of being online outweigh the risks. But around 67% have encountered potentially harmful content.

Younger people told the watchdog that the most common potential harms they came across online were offensive or ‘bad’ language (28%); misinformation (23%); scams, fraud and phishing (22%); unwelcome friend or follow requests (21%) and trolling (17%).

Around 14% said they had encountered bullying, abusive behaviour and threats, violent content, and hateful, offensive, or discriminatory content, targeted at a group or individual based on their specific characteristics.

However, the research revealed a gap between young people who experience harm online and those who flag or report it to the services. Fewer than one in five young people take action to report potentially harmful content when they see it, the report found.

The main reason youngsters do not report online harms is because they don’t often see the need to do anything (29%); while one in five (21%) do not think it will make a difference. Over one in ten (12%) say they don’t know what to do, or whom to inform.

User reporting is one important way to ensure more people are protected from harm online. For example, TikTok’s transparency report revealed that, of the 85.8 million pieces of content removed in Q4 2021, nearly 5% were removed because of users reporting or flagging content.

In the same period, Instagram reported 43.8 million content removals, of which about 6.6% were removed because of users reporting or flagging content.

Commenting on the research, behavioural and media psychologist Hemmings said: “With young people spending so much of their time online, the exposure to harmful content can unknowingly desensitise them to its hurtful impact. People react very differently when they see something harmful in real life – reporting it to the police or asking for help from a friend, parent, or guardian – but often take very little action when they see the same thing in the virtual world.

“What is clear from the research is that while a potential harm experienced just once may have little negative impact, when experienced time and time again, these experiences can cause significant damage. Worryingly, nearly a third of 13-to-17-year-olds didn’t report potentially harmful content because they didn’t consider it bad enough to do something about. This risks a potentially serious issue going unchallenged.

“That is why I’m working with Ofcom to help encourage people to think about the content they or their children are being exposed to online, and report it when they do, so that the online world can be a safer space for everyone.”

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The campaign aims to show young people that, by taking a moment to stop, think and flag problematic content – rather than scrolling past – they can make a difference in helping to keep their online communities safer.

Anna-Sophie Harling, Online Safety Principal at Ofcom added: “As we prepare to take on our new role as online safety regulator, we’re already working with video sites and apps to make sure they’re taking steps to protect their users from harmful content.

“Our campaign is designed to empower young people to report harmful content when they see it, and we stand ready to hold tech firms to account on how effectively they respond.”

As part of its forthcoming role regulating online safety, Ofcom will have a range of powers to require change. The watchdog will work with companies to help them understand their new obligations and what steps they need to take to protect their users from harm.

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