Make the internet safer for kids

For children born in the digital age, the internet isn’t just a useful tool or a luxury – it’s an essential part of life. If you don’t believe us, try turning off the internet in your home and see how many seconds it takes the young ’uns to notice (less than 30, we reckon). But whether you’ve got little ones in preschool, children in primary school discovering the internet or teenagers using social media for the first time, knowing how to help your family stay safe online can be tricky. 

That’s why we’re doing what we can to help our customers with internet safety. As a founding member of online safety expert Internet Matters, we offer tools to help customers keep their families safe online, and our Find The Right Words campaign gives parents and carers even more guidance.  

To mark Safer Internet Day 2025 and its theme, “Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online”, here are our top tips to help you support your family as they explore the digital world. 

As an adult, you may feel you have so much experience in avoiding scams, from blocking nuisance numbers to being suspicious of unsolicited calls from your “bank” asking for details, that it’s second nature. But this isn’t true for some young people, who may be vulnerable to seemingly helpful or friendly contact from scammers, or messages alerting them to bogus special offers. 

You’ll be giving them – and probably your own finances – a huge helping hand if you equip them with the knowledge and tools to avoid scammers. Here are tips from Internet Matters to help parents know what scams to watch out for and how to beat the scammers.  

We’re also helping to stop fraud thanks to our partnership with Hiya, who are the global experts in spam and fraud calls. We’re using AI-powered spam-fighting tools and enhanced caller identification services which we’ve rolled out for free to all customers. 

As we said, using the internet is second nature to those born in the 21st century. So it’s natural for them to talk about how to use it – and it’s important to have those conversations frequently. You don’t need to set aside a special time for this: keep the chat relaxed and natural and do it when picking them up from school or going for your weekly shop. 

Take an interest in what they’re doing when they’re online and try bringing up news stories or TV plotlines relating to internet safety to talk about what they’d do if a similar issue happened to one of their friends. Use your own experiences to talk about things that might go wrong online, and make sure they know they can talk to you if they’re upset about something they’ve seen. Read on to find out how O2 can help you talk to children about online safety. 

We also know parents and guardians are concerned about a range of potential online harms. Research commissioned by Virgin Media O2 in partnership with Internet Matters shows the leading issues include harassment or trolling by strangers (93% of parents said this was a concern), cyberbullying from those they already know (93%), and viewing content that could negatively affect their mental health or body image (94%)*. And there are more worries too, such as scams and dealing with AI deepfakes. 

In collaboration with Internet Matters, and in partnership with leading charities Action for Children and Good Things Foundation, we launched the Find The Right Words campaign. We created two free guides for parents and carers: one to help adults have conversations with children and young people about staying safe online, and one about the online safety tools and controls available and how to use them. 

You can also watch our Find The Right Words campaign film, a powerful video highlighting the difficulties parents and carers face in explaining online risks to their children. With our resources, you can get the knowledge and information you need to help you talk to your kids with confidence, helping them to stay safe online. Internet Matters also offers My Family’s Digital Toolkit, a personalised online safety toolkit for your family which offers free personalised online safety advice. Simply answer seven questions and receive guidance on everything you need to keep your child safe in the digital world. 

One of the ways we help keep kids safe online is by filtering and blocking websites hosting 18+ content by default. This means anyone using an O2 device must prove they’re over 18 to access age-restricted content. But we also give parents and carers the power to manage what children can access with our Parental Control service, which makes sure your children can only use their mobile to visit sites that are suitable for them. 

You can also adjust the parental controls on all your internet-enabled devices to set limits on app access and in-app spending – find out how by visiting your broadband provider’s website. And don’t forget each app will have its own parental controls. 

If you’re with Virgin Media for your broadband, you’ll have access to Essential Security, which includes parental controls settings enabling you to block inappropriate sites. This can be enabled via the My Virgin Media account. And with Advanced Security, Virgin Media customers can also block specific content they don’t want a child to see, and can protect family time by setting screen time limits on kids’ devices. 

Make sure your child is using privacy settings wherever possible. If they’re aged 11 or older, you can help them set these up, so they feel involved in the process. If they’re younger, do it for them. When your child is old enough to use social networking sites, make sure their privacy settings are high. Encourage them to regularly change their passwords and to never share or put any of their personal details (like their phone number, address or school) online. Check that safety and privacy settings are activated on their mobile devices, too. 

They can learn more about why these measures are important on our page about children’s online privacy.

It’s worth setting rules about when and for how long your child can use devices. Kids under 12 should use devices in shared spaces like the kitchen, so you can keep an eye on what they’re up to. You can also set screen time limits using platforms such as  Microsoft Family Safety, Google Family Link and Apple Screen Time. For children aged 14 and up, aim to help them regulate their own internet use. Have regular chats about how much time they spend online and how they feel this affects their wellbeing, and make sure they’re involved in non-screen-based activities. And remember, it’s important to lead by example. If there’s a “no phones at mealtimes” rule, adults should stick to it too. 

_{*Based on research conducted by Virgin Media O2 and Censuswide in 2024.}