Ofcom urges tech firms to step up to protect women and girls online

Technology firms are being urged to “step up” in their efforts to tackle trolling and toxic online abuse of women in new guidance published by the internet and communications watchdog.

Ofcom said women in sport, politics and other public arenas are facing “significant and widespread abuse online every day”.

Earlier this year, Sport England chairman Chris Boardman wrote to Ofcom to raise concerns over the online abuse directed against the England Women’s team during Euro 2025.

Meanwhile, Parliament’s youngest female MP Rosie Wrighting has previously spoken of several insults directed at her, such as “Barbie” and “stupid girl”, and said there have been “many great women” who have not gone into politics because of online abuse and safety concerns.

The regulator has now set out guidance for a range of providers including social media platforms, dating, gaming and pornography sites, urging them to take more responsibility for protecting users online.

In an open letter to providers, Ofcom’s chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes warned the digital world is “not serving women and girls the way it should”.

She added: “In fact, it is actively harming their participation and even facilitating abuse. Women in sport, in politics or in any part of public life face significant and widespread abuse online every day.”

Setting out their guidance to firms, she said there is “an urgent need for industry-wide action”.

The guidance, which Ofcom said goes beyond legal duties under the Online Safety Act, includes encouraging firms to bring in prompts asking users to reconsider before posting harmful content; imposing “timeouts” for users who repeatedly target victims; limiting the number of comments or posts a person can make on one account to help prevent mass posting of abuse in so-called pile-ons; and allowing users to quickly block or mute multiple accounts at once.

It also recommends introducing more sophisticated tools for users to make it easier for victims to report abuse as well as simplifying the ability to set accounts to private.

Another recommendation is for firms to use automated technology known as “hash-matching” to detect and remove non-consensual intimate images.

But the guidance is not enforceable, and online safety organisation Internet Matters has urged the Government to make it mandatory.

Rachel Huggins, co-chief executive at Internet Matters, said: “Too many women and girls experience abuse and harassment online. Ofcom’s guidance includes strong measures to make the online world safer – from better privacy defaults, to changes to curb the spread of misogynistic content – but they are just recommendations.

“If Government is truly committed to halving violence against woman and girls in a decade, they should make Ofcom’s “A Safer Life Online for Woman and Girls” guidance for tech platforms a statutory Code of Practice.

“This would require platforms to implement the measures outlined in it, rather than making it a choice.”

Echoing this, domestic abuse organisation Refuge said Ofcom’s guidance “marks a welcome step towards tackling misogyny and domestic abuse in digital spaces, but meaningful protection for women and girls will rely on tech companies engaging fully with the guidance and effectively putting it into practice”, adding that if they do not, the Government must “make this crucial guidance legally enforceable so that all women and girls get the protection they deserve”.

Ofcom has said it will publish a report in summer 2027, setting out progress companies have made.

But it added: “If their action falls short, we will consider making formal recommendations to Government on where the Online Safety Act may need to be strengthened.”

Dame Melanie said: “No woman should have think twice before expressing herself online, or worry about an abuser tracking her location.

“That’s why today we are sending a clear message to tech firms to step up and act in line with our practical industry guidance, to protect their female users against the very real online risks they face today.

“With the continued support of campaigners, advocacy groups and expert partners, we will hold companies to account and set a new standard for women’s and girls’ online safety in the UK.”

Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock branded the abuse aimed at sportswomen on social media “horrific and urged tech companies to “step up and stamp it out”.

Mr Boardman said: “Toxic online abuse has terrible offline impacts. As women’s sport grows, so does the abuse of its stars, and that affects women from every walk of life.

“This Girl Can research shows us that for many women and girls, fear of judgment is a huge deterrent to them exercising – and the horrifying abuse of our athletes makes this worse.

“The hard-won gains in women’s sport must not be destroyed by misogyny, so we’re supporting Ofcom in order to protect women & girls’ participation.”