🛡️ Safe by Default

Digital Safety for the Kids Who Need It Most ‘a coalition of parents, professionals, and survivors’

👋 Welcome

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed trying to protect a child online — especially one who’s neurodivergent or vulnerable — this campaign is for you.

Safe by Default calls for a shift in responsibility upstream — from isolated parents to the tech systems, operating systems, and public services that shape children’s digital lives.

🔍 The Problem

Devices and platforms marketed to children come with dangerous default settings.

Meanwhile, families are expected to:

• Manage multiple apps, passwords, and content filters
• Understand DNS, whitelisting, console controls, browser settings, security settings, network principles, and operating policies
• Prevent online spirals — alone

Neurodivergent and vulnerable children — including those who are autistic, ADHD, anxious, or traumatised — are:

• More likely to compulsively seek high-risk content
• Less able to self-regulate or critically filter
• Often misread by professionals as “dangerous” rather than vulnerable

⚖️ Criminalised for Watching

Under new UK terrorism laws, young people can now be prosecuted not just for actions — but for “planning” or “preparing” extremist acts.