The chief inspector of Ofsted has suggested that children should not have smartphones at a young age.

In a win for internet safety campaigners, the Prime Minister has accepted changes to the Online Safety Bill that will make senior managers at tech firms criminally liable for persistent breaches of their duty of care to children.

Meta has announced companies will no longer be able to target youngsters based on gender and their user activity on the sites.

An investigation has revealed the disturbing extent that children as young as 13 are fed harmful material on social media platforms.

Rishi Sunak could see his first Commons defeat if he does not agree to include stronger protections for children in the controversial Online Safety Bill, which will be considered by the Commons this week.

The release of artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT is causing a furore. Now banned in New York schools, England’s exam watchdog Ofqual is reportedly looking into developing new guidance for schools to prevent such chatbots being used by pupils amid fears of potential widespread plagiarism that could go undetected. In other news, there are fresh concerns that the Online Safety Bill could be derailed and TikTok has rolled out controls for creators that allow them to block their content for under 18s. Also in our weekly newsletter, we cover the story about the metaverse helping children in Japan who refuse to go to school. Plus, teens who habitually check social media may experience brain changes.

We hope you’ve had a great Christmas and New Year. We’re delighted to be back with a round-up of the latest news on online safety. A report on an alarming trend of youngsters attacking other kids for hits and likes on apps like TikTok will upset any parent and teacher. There’s also a worrying new study that has found nearly half of young people have been bullied or trolled online over their looks. But we bring some good news – contrary to the popular belief that playing video games have a negative impact on our children’s developing brains, they might actually be sharpening their cognitive faculties.

New research has revealed a dark side to TikTok’s algorithm, with vulnerable teen girls as young as 13 being pushed content about dangerous diets and self-harm within minutes of setting up an account. Plus, the Culture Secretary has written a letter to parents to make further assurance that the Online Safety Bill will protect youngsters and parents have been warned about the risks of VR headsets ahead of Christmas.

We will be taking a break from compiling this newsletter for two weeks. Hope you have a fantastic Christmas. We’ll be back in January with more on the latest online safety news.

The Online Safety Bill, which aims rewrite the UK’s rules for policing harmful content online, is now making its way through parliament, after a series of delays. We’re not going to see the complex and controversial legislation become law quickly; it will instead be sent back to committee stage for deeper scrutiny. In response to the bill’s proposals, WhatsApp has threatened to block UK users from its app in a row over access to messages, while Apple’s announcement about its privacy changes are at odds with the new law. Read on to find out how Facebook Dating is introducing an age verification tool to prevent use by under 18s.