Ukie responds to Ofcom guidance on protecting women and girls online

Submitted: 23rd May 2025

Ukie’s response welcomes Ofcom’s focus on tackling online harms that disproportionately affect women and girls and strongly supports the principle of creating safer and more inclusive online environments. Developed in collaboration with Women in Games, the submission reflects the reality that women and girls make up around half of the global player base and are central to the video games community, not a niche group. Ukie highlights the sector’s long standing commitment to safety by design, including robust moderation tools, parental controls, age appropriate communication features and industry frameworks such as the PEGI age rating system, alongside education initiatives like Ask About Games. These measures already play a significant role in reducing harm and empowering players to set boundaries in online play.

The response also acknowledges that gender based abuse remains a persistent challenge, particularly in live multiplayer environments, and supports proportionate, evidence based regulation to address this. Ukie stresses the importance of recognising the distinct nature of games compared to social media and avoiding one size fits all guidance that could place disproportionate burdens on small and micro studios. Working with Women in Games, Ukie calls for guidance that builds on existing good practice, supports smaller developers through shared tools and resources, and remains flexible and scalable. Continued collaboration between Ofcom, industry and expert organisations will be essential to drive further progress while ensuring regulation is practical, proportionate and effective.