Social media giants urged to tighten child safety after UK rejects blanket ban for teens

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U.K. regulators are calling on social media giants to enforce stricter protection for children on their platforms after a blanket ban for under-16s was rejected by lawmakers.

Online safety organizations Ofcom and the Information Commissioner's Office said they had written to YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat on Thursday, urging them to tackle a broad range of child safety issues, from implementing stringent age verification measures to tackling child grooming on their platforms.

It comes after U.K. lawmakers voted against a proposal to include a social media ban for under-16s in the a piece of child welfare legislation being debated earlier this month.

The U.K. government has launched a consultation on children's social media use to gather views of parents and young people on whether a social media ban would be effective.