Online Safety Taskforce Action Plan 2026/27

Ministerial Foreword

We are all aware of the significant growth in technology over the past decade. This has had an enormous impact on every area of our lives and across society, bringing positive opportunities but also bringing increased risk of harm from those who seek to exploit these ever-evolving technological advancements.

For children and young people, there has been a disproportionate impact. They have grown up with less distinction made between the online and offline worlds that are part of their everyday lives. In recent years we have seen the proliferation of the most abhorrent online criminal activity including child sexual abuse and exploitation, grooming and sextortion, and financial scams - with devastating effects on the lives of children, young people, and their families. New and evolving technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) add to those risks. The rapid change can make it hard for parents and carers to keep up with measures to stop and reduce that harm.

Exposure to harmful content, including misogynistic and violent material and the prevalence of disinformation and aggressive advertising, can have serious effects on children’s mental health and wellbeing and can negatively affect attitudes and behaviours and threaten social norms. The design of social media platforms, including the use of algorithms, increases exposure to harmful content and can promote addictive online behaviours. Platform providers must be held accountable for the safety of their services and must fully embed safety by design.

It is therefore of the utmost importance to make sure that our young people can benefit from the online world in safe and secure ways. As a government we have been clear in the priority we place on driving this agenda forward to the greatest extent possible within our devolved powers.

This is a fast moving and dynamic area. It is a priority for the Scottish Government to protect children from harm, including online harms. We want to make sure we use any powers we have to take all steps possible to protect our children. We will act where powers are devolved and engage robustly where powers are reserved. That is why we have also encouraged the UK Government to use their significant powers in relation to online issues, through the Online Safety Act and through other measures.

We will continue to explore all options available to protect children from harm, including the potential under-16 social media ban raised in the UK Government consultation, and being mindful of the public debate on the case for a ban on smart phones in schools.

As part of this, we must learn from international experience, as this is a global issue many countries are grappling with. We must engage with experts and practitioners and, most importantly, listen to what children, young people, and their families have to say.

This government has always said we want Scotland to be the best country for children to grow up. This work is key to that. Protecting our children will help them flourish.

Whilst we have joint Ministerial responsibility for leading on this crucial work, our government is united in this being the responsibility of us all; as it is for all of society. We must view the protection of children as our collective responsibility, and we must all work together to ensure children and young people are protected – online and in the offline world.