Lab gives evidence to APPG on Children’s Online Safety

On 30 June 2026, Professor Andrew McStay gave evidence in the Houses of Parliament to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Children’s Online Safety. The session was the final one in the APPG’s inquiry into AI and children’s online safety, and it focused on AI regulation.

Andy appeared alongside Rachel Beggs of the ICO, Almudena Lara and Andrew Breeze of Ofcom, and Professor Lorna Woods OBE, expert adviser to the Online Safety Act Network. The questioning was led by the APPG’s Chair, John Whitby MP.

Drawing on the Emotional AI Lab’s research on AI companions, including its national survey of UK teen users, Andy addressed:

  • how children’s rights frameworks can bring harms into view that content regulation misses, including the Children’s Code, the UNCRC and General Comment No. 25

  • how regulators might judge whether an AI companion is acting in a child’s interests or simply maximising engagement

  • the role of voluntary standards on emulated empathy, such as IEEE 7014.1, in tackling risks before legislation catches up

  • what principles should guide a regulatory framework for AI companions

  • what the UK can learn from approaches elsewhere

The session came as the Government moved to restrict AI chatbots from providing sexualised content to under-18s. A recurring theme was whether such measures go far enough, given risks such as emotional dependency, manipulation and excessive engagement, and the extent of companion-like use of general-purpose AI.

Andrew McStay