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Parental controls for internet use

Feel confident in letting your child learn and play online, with parental controls through Virgin Media’s Web Safe. Get extra security on your devices, too, and sign up to Virgin Media Internet Security powered by F-Secure – our award-winning security tool that gives online protection on unlimited devices.

What are parental controls?

Parental controls are a set of tools designed to protect and keep children safe online. This includes restricting children from accessing inappropriate or adult content. These tools can be installed across all devices, including mobile phones, computers and consoles.

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Virgin Media Web Safe

Virgin Media Web Safe comes as standard on all Virgin Media broadband packages. It works with any device connected to your home network to block websites with viruses or malicious and unsuitable content. Web Safe made up of Virus Safe and Child Safe, working together to give parental control of WiFi networks. You can manage your Web Safe settings easily and conveniently online, by signing into your My Virgin Media account.

Virus Safe prevents you from accessing web sites which may be fraudulent, or contain harmful malware and viruses.

Child Safe lets the account holder block sites that they consider inappropriate for their children, for added web safety and online security. You can manage the Child Safe settings for your family in the Account Settings section of My Virgin Media. Child Safe is easily customisable by clicking on the Categories, Websites or Set timer filters, so that you can control the level of protection. By turning on and opting in to Child Safe, Virgin Media will block the following unsuitable site categories automatically:

  • Pornography
  • Violence
  • Crime
  • Hate
  • Drugs
  • Hacking
  • Suicide and self-harm
  • Address hiding

These categories will remain blocked until you turn Child Safe off. If Child Safe is turned off, the settings are saved until Child Safe is turned on again. Only the main account holder can turn Child Safe on or off.

Find out how to set up Web Safe

Internet Security at Virgin Media

Although Web Safe protects all your devices connected via our WiFi Hub or your router, Virgin Media Internet Security, powered by F-Secure, protects the device it’s installed on. This includes scanning any filed downloaded onto your device, and attempting to block malicious websites before they reach your device.

Virgin Media Internet Security is easy and simple to control. Once you’ve installed it on your chosen devices, Virgin Media Internet Security will get to work right away and automatically scan your devices several times a day to keep them well protected.

Virgin Media customers can get access to a free, no obligation 3-month trial when you register for Virgin Media Internet Security through your My Virgin Media account. You’ll pay nothing for 3 months with no automatic sign up after that, and then it’s just £3 a month (or £30 a year) added to your Virgin Media bill if you choose to keep it.

For the best protection, we recommend using both Virgin Media Internet Security and Web Safe.

Go to the Virgin Media Internet Security help page to find out more and register for Virgin Media Internet Security to start your 3-month trial today.

Top tips for mums and dads

Your child’s ability to safely navigate the internet is a skill they’ll need throughout their lifetime. So teaching them about web safety and good online habits from a young age is vital. Our online security measures mean they can enjoy the digital freedom to explore, develop, progress and play, within the boundaries you choose to set.

Here are some helpful resources to help make sure your child stays web safe, wherever and whenever they’re online.

Switched On Families

Switched On Families

Modern life is busy, and you may not always be present when your child is using the internet. That’s why we’ve put together an interactive guide to give families honest and useful advice on keeping web safe, called Switched On Families. Stay informed and make sure your tribe is benefitting from all the good stuff the web has to offer, with none of the risk.

Go to Switched on Families

Internet Matters

Internet Matters

Virgin Media and other major broadband providers have launched Internet Matters, a not-for-profit organisation that offers expert advice and practical online security tips to keep families safe; while supporting broadband parental controls.

Go to Internet Matters

Reporting online threats

Reporting online threats

If you find terrorist information, photos or videos while online, please report it through the dedicated government site. You can also report threats anonymously if you’d prefer.

Report an incident

Useful links

The legal stuff

*Monthly price of Virgin Media’s main services and O2 Airtime Plan will increase each April from April 2025 by the Retail Price Index rate of inflation announced in February each year plus 3.9%. Doesn’t apply to any add-ons you may have selected, out-of-bundle charges or admin costs, which may increase separately. See www.virginmedia.com/prices and www.o2.co.uk/prices for details.

No setup fee

This promotion means you won’t pay the usual setup fee of £35. No setup fee is available on all bundles, broadband & phone, and broadband only packages. If you can set up using a Self-Install pack, but choose to use an engineer for the installation, you’ll still be charged £30 for this service.

These prices are for new customers only.

Virgin Media services are only available in eligible Virgin Media network areas. Virgin TV 360 and, for the time being, home phone are not available in new network expansion areas.

All of the products on this page are subject to survey, network capacity and a credit check.

Each service has a minimum contract length that’s shown in your basket.

If you take a bundle with both Virgin Media and O2, you’ll have separate contracts and bills – one for Virgin Media, and another for O2.

Priority is a service from O2 that current Virgin Media customers aged 16+ can also use.
  • Offers are subject to eligibility and availability.
  • Read the terms on the Priority app or at o2.co.uk/terms

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    †To verify, see: https://www.virginmedia.com/legal/awards. Best in Test: based on umlaut Fixed Broadband Benchmark 2023 comparing major UK ISPs on download speed, upload speed, latency and stability. Uswitch Most Popular Broadband Provider: based on Uswitch consumer research Dec 2022 - Jan 2023 conducted by Opinium comparing broadband sales volumes and overall customer satisfaction of major UK ISP operators, split equally to form a combined score. Best Combined Connectivity Experience: based on GWS test results Oct 2022-Apr 2023 comparing data connectivity performance of major UK mobile operators and their associated ISP partners to form a combined score across both mobile network and WiFi experience.