As in all Ofcom's reports, Ofcom provides detail about different groups of children, highlighting age, socioeconomic background and gender wherever it is useful or possible to do so.

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When Ofcom first commissioned this longitudinal study 10 years ago, several of the children in this year’s research weren’t yet born. It was 2014, later dubbed the “year of the selfie”1 in the wake of that year’s icebucket challenge2, the #nomakeupselfie3 and the “selfie that broke Twitter”. A year of laughs, cold-water gasps, attempts at authenticity and a group of famous people who took their own picture at the Oscars.

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Nearly a quarter of UK five-to-seven-year-olds now have their own smartphone, Ofcom research suggests.

Social media use also rose in the age group over last year with nearly two in five using messaging service WhatsApp, despite its minimum age of 13.

The communications regulator warned parental enforcement of rules "appeared to be diminishing."

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This report looks at media use, attitudes and understanding among children aged 3-17. It also includes findings on parents’ views about their children’s media use, and how parents of children aged 3-17 monitor and manage their children’s online activity.

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iNEQE's brief and clear summary of the report findings is here

One in three children lie about their age to access adult content on social media, according to research commissioned by the regulator, Ofcom.

Many social media sites, such as Instagram, do not permit under-13s to sign up, while accounts for under-18s have limited functionality.

But researchers found children were faking their ages to skirt the rules.

Ofcom says this increases the risk of children seeing content which may be inappropriate or harmful.

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This annual report looks at media use, attitudes and understanding among children and young people aged 5-15, as well as media access and use by young children aged 3-4.

It also includes findings on parents’ views about their children’s media use, and how they monitor and manage it. It is intended to provide a comprehensive picture of children’s media experiences in 2020/21 as a reference for industry, policymakers, academics and the general public.

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