Ofcom has published a Call for Evidence to inform the preparation of its first report on content that is harmful to children.

Under the Online Safety Act 2023, Ofcom must publish a statutory report on content that is harmful to children at least every three years, and the first such report must be published by 26 October 2026.

The purpose of the report is to assess the incidence of – and the harm caused by – such content on regulated services, with a view to advising the Secretary of State whether changes should be made to the classification of different types of harmful content. As it currently stands, types of harmful content fall into different categories according to their severity: so-called ‘primary priority content’ (PPC), ‘priority content’ (PC) and ‘non-designated content’.

To assist Ofcom in preparing its report, the Call for Evidence invites stakeholders to provide any information that may be relevant, and in particular evidence relating to:

• The incidence of content harmful to children on regulated user-to-user, search and/or combined services. This includes the quantity, prevalence or presence of such content on these services and the frequency with which children are encountering it;
• The harm that children in the UK suffer or may suffer as a result of encountering content that is harmful to children. This evidence should focus on physical or psychological harm to children;
• Evidence suggesting it may be appropriate to make changes to the kinds of PPC and PC in the Online Safety Act and, if so, what changes would be appropriate.

The Call for Evidence closes on 10 March 2026, and can be found here.