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Ofcom, the regulator responsible for online safety, has published its proposed new rules for tech firms, which it says will help keep children safe.

Esther Ghey, the mother of Brianna Ghey, who was murdered in a park in Cheshire in 2023, welcomes the new rules but says Ofcom has a 鈥渕ammoth task鈥�.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how they鈥檒l manage to enforce everything because social media is so vast.鈥�

Sixteen-year-old Brianna, who was transgender, was stabbed 28 times in broad daylight after being lured to Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington.

Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, who were just 15 at the time, were convicted of her murder in December. They used social media to view and discuss violence and murder.

After Brianna died, Esther found out she was accessing pages online that were encouraging self-harm and eating disorders.

鈥淚鈥檝e heard that once you start looking at these things, the algorithms keep feeding you the same things.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 essentially brainwashing children,鈥� she told 5 Live Breakfast.

Ofcom's new rules feature more than 40 practical measures, including age verification processes to stop children accessing harmful material.

It comes after the UK adopted the Online Safety Act last year, which imposes tougher rules on sites that can be accessed by children.

Esther has been calling for the government to stop children having access to social media apps on smartphones. She also said parents should be able to download software to alert them to worrying content their children might be searching for.

Esther says she鈥檚 glad it鈥檚 being talked about, but the one thing Ofcom鈥檚 proposal is missing is a focus on support for parents.

鈥淭hey say 鈥榠t takes a village to raise a child鈥� and that鈥檚 what we need to do now to make things better.鈥�

鈥淚 can see that a change is going to happen and I do feel really positive about this.鈥�

This clip is originally from 5 Live Breakfast on May 8th 2024.

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