As Safer Internet Day 2026 shines a spotlight on how we can work together to build a safer digital world, Mobile UK is proud to celebrate more than 13 years of partnership with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Together, we’ve been committed to helping protect children and young people as they navigate an increasingly complex online environment.

Since our collaboration began, the BBFC has worked closely with Mobile UK and our member operators EE, Virgin Media O2 and VodafoneThree to develop and maintain robust content classification guidelines. These guidelines underpin the filters used across mobile networks to help restrict commercial content that may be inappropriate for users under 18.

This approach ensures that families can have greater confidence in the content children encounter on their mobile devices while still enabling young people to enjoy the benefits of connectivity.

The BBFC plays a key role by:

• Providing age rating expertise based on decades of classification work across film, TV, online platforms and digital media.

• Advising on what content should be filtered to prevent under18s from accessing unsuitable commercial material.

• Ensuring consistency and transparency, so parents and carers can understand how mobile content restrictions work.

These guidelines help mobile operators strike the right balance between enabling freedom of expression and protecting younger users from potential harm.

‍