How we write and review guidance

Content is written by a UK teacher and online safety coordinator. It is not aggregated from press releases, and it is not generated by summarising other people's articles. Where a claim comes from an external source, that source is named in the article.

• We do not describe any app, game or service as simply “safe” or “unsafe”. Risk depends on age, context and settings, and a verdict is not information.
• We do not publish statistics we cannot attribute to a named source. A number without a source is a claim, not a fact.
• We do not accept payment, sponsorship or affiliate commission for coverage, ranking or a positive description of a product.
• We do not use fear as a motivator. Guidance that makes a parent panic is guidance they will not act on.
• We do not publish a page to fill a section. An empty section says it is empty.

Articles about apps and games follow the same shape, so they can be compared directly: what it is and who uses it, what it does, what the genuine risks are, what settings make a practical difference, and where to go if something has already happened. Keeping the shape fixed is what makes the guidance usable rather than merely readable.

Online safety information decays. Every published article carries the date it was published, the date it was last updated and the date it was last reviewed by a human.

Articles that have not been reviewed within 180 days are flagged automatically in the editorial system so an editor checks them. Being flagged does not mean the content is wrong — it means we have not yet confirmed that it is still right, and we would rather say that than imply a currency we have not verified.

Corrections take priority over new content. If something here is wrong, out of date or unclear, tell us and we will fix it and say that we did.

Online Wise is not a government, regulator, charity, police or NHS service, and has no affiliation with or endorsement from any organisation it links to. Where we link elsewhere it is because the link is useful, not because of any relationship.