United Kingdom, March 12 -- Major social media platforms such as Facebook are being accused of "failing to put children's safety at the heart of their products", as regulators push technology companies to introduce stronger age checks to prevent under-13s from signing up.

Melanie Dawes, chief executive of Ofcom, made the comments as the UK communications regulator and the Information Commissioner's Office wrote to several major platforms urging them to strengthen protections for younger users.

The companies contacted include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Roblox and X.

Regulators said the services should introduce more robust age-verification measures similar to systems already required for online platforms that host a...