Social media platforms are being urged to limit internet 'pile-ons' under new guidelines from Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, designed to protect women and girls online. The guidance, which comes into force on Tuesday, aims to combat misogynist abuse, coercive control and the sharing of intimate images without consent.
The measures include enforcing limits on the number of responses to posts on platforms such as X, in a move intended to reduce pile-ons where individual users are deluged with abusive replies. Ofcom also recommends the use of 'hash-matching' technology, which allows platforms to take down intimate images reported by users by cross-referencing them against a database of illicit images.
Other recommendations include prompting users to think twice before posting abusive content, imposing 'time-outs' for repeat offenders, preventing misogynistic users from earning advertising revenue, and enabling users to block or mute multiple accounts at once. Although the guidelines are technically voluntary, Ofcom has warned that it will publish a report in 2027 on how platforms have responded and may recommend strengthening the Online Safety Act if action is insufficient.
Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom's chief executive, said she had encountered 'shocking' stories of online abuse suffered by women and girls and called on tech firms to 'step up and act'. However, Internet Matters, a nonprofit focused on children's online safety, said the guidance should be mandatory, warning that many companies are likely to ignore it.
