‘A tsunami of harm’: views on tackling online safety for under-16s in the UK | Social media ban

C.Hange is coming to social media platforms. UK government consultations on improving online safety for children will result in some form of action against big tech. Even before the deadline for applications passed, ministers promised an Australian-style social media ban for under-16s or restrictions on “addictive” features such as endless scrolling.

Despite the introduction of the Online Safety Act, which requires tech companies to protect children from harmful content, there is huge pressure from safety campaigners and MPs to put more pressure on social media platforms. The deadline for contributions is Tuesday night and the government has promised to act quickly.

Here’s what some key contributors to the discussion think should happen.

Ian Russell, 62, Molly Russell’s father

Russell, a leading online safety campaigner, wants action that will “turn the tide of the tsunami into unacceptable and preventable harm”. Russell’s 14-year-old daughter Molly committed suicide after watching harmful content on Instagram and Pinterest.

He does not support blanket bans of under-16s from major platforms, as is the case in Australia; He believes this will create a “cliff edge” that will expose young people to harmful content on unreformed platforms once they are old enough. Last week, he announced that he supports a more nuanced approach, under which platforms that do not meet strict security standards would be banned from those under 16, while young people would be allowed to access “safe” apps.

Currently, most major platforms in the UK have a minimum age of 13; This is a limit set by the General Data Protection Regulation. Social media has no official limits.

Russell, chairman of the Molly Rose Foundation charity, has criticized the pace of implementation of the Online Safety Act and wants it to be reintroduced. Beyond that, he wants to ban aggressive algorithms that serve harmful content to young people and target app features like infinite scrolling, push notifications and autoplay.

“This is an opportunity to go well beyond the blanket ban, which will offer parents a false sense of security and will be resolved quickly,” he says.

Esther Ghey, 39, mother of Brianna Ghey

Ghey supports the ban. Her daughter, Brianna, was murdered in 2023, and she believes her social media addiction contributed to her daughter’s mental health issues, leading her to take risks with her personal safety. Brianna, who is transgender, became isolated due to heavy use of social media and suffered from anxiety and body dysmorphia.

“I support raising the age of social media. Currently, social media poses a serious risk for people under 16,” he says.

Ghey, founder of the Brianna Ghey Legacy Project, which promotes online safety education, also wants to limit addictive features and do more to help teens navigate the online world.

“We can’t just take something away. So we have to make sure we educate kids about digital literacy so that when they enter the world of social media, they have the emotional maturity to deal with it,” he says.

Fin, 17, sixth grader

Fin calls the government’s proposals to restrict social media to under-16s “incredibly harsh”, especially for young people who use the platforms to keep up with news and stay in touch with friends. “There were many ways to get around this rather than banning it completely. There should be different levels of restrictions, but maybe that would be too complicated,” he says.

But he believes the government should step in to regulate addictive designs like infinite scrolling or autoplay. “People should be free to do whatever they want, but it also comes down to safety. You can’t let someone drink themselves to death.”

Despite the government’s “good intentions”, Fin thinks many measures have not been properly considered. For example, he says the announcement of a legal smartphone ban in schools in England does not take into account how integrated phones and technology are in classrooms. “Teachers today set up work to do online: Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams. I feel like there’s a lot more nuance to the discussion than what’s currently presented.”

The consultation includes a survey for those aged 10 to 21. But Fin says the online security debate as a whole is driven by what adults want. “I don’t blame them. It’s hard to interview children. But I wish there was more acceptance that ‘we’re only talking to adults’.”

British teenagers interviewed by NSPCC, 11-18

The NSPCC ran a series of focus groups on consultations across the UK. One widely held view was that adults fail to grasp the complexities and nuances of social media and smartphone use. One girl said: “I use my phone mostly for research and review.”

Some focus group members felt the ban would punish them rather than social media companies that fail to implement their own security measures. Against this backdrop, some have called for a more “layered approach” to online security, where apps adopt security measures that reflect users’ ages. They wanted gradual exposure to social media so they could “have the freedom and make mistakes,” as one said.

There was much debate about the behavior of others, with some saying the blame should be on the users, not the platforms. Cyberbullying, catfishing, trolling and grooming were topics that regularly emerged in the groups. “Being online chronically can affect your mental and physical health,” one said.

There was also support for being able to control your own online experience, such as choosing the type of content you want and who you interact with. “I quite like the environment on social media because I’ve made it safe for me and also because my algorithm feeds me things I’m really interested in,” one girl said.

Chi Onwurah, 61, Member of Parliament

Onwurah is chair of the science, innovation and technology committee, which last week said the “status quo is unacceptable” in terms of online security. Onwurah said the committee was not convinced by an Australian-style ban. He says his concerns about the ban are what will be blocked and how a “cliff edge” situation will be defined.

In Australia, where access to applications such as Instagram and TikTok is restricted for people under the age of 16, age restriction The definition of a service includes whether a service allows social interaction between two or more users and whether it allows users to post material.

“I am not personally advocating the ban, but the committee is of the view that the status quo is unacceptable,” Onwurah said. He would like to see restrictions on addictive properties, stricter enforcement of the OSA and better provision of tech platform data to researchers so the level of harm to young people can be accurately measured.

The committee is also calling for stricter age verification to ensure fewer under-13s skip the internet, and for regulation of digital advertising to prevent platforms from encouraging addictive behaviour.

Colm Gannon, 48, chief executive of the Australian International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC)

Gannon was on the advisory board of the age assurance technology trial, which was completed before Australia introduced its social media ban at the end of last year. He has more than 20 years of expertise in digital safety and child protection and says the UK is off to a good start on age checks on iPhones.

He said the UK government should not impose an outright ban on social media for under-16s as Australia has done. He says young people under 16 have managed to bypass the ban in Australia, pushing them into an unregulated environment without the parental controls and other restrictions on teen accounts that platforms have put in place.

“This generation of young people, people under the age of 16, have that ambition and the right to connect,” he says. “We need to build security parameters around that so we can actually provide a high level of trust and security and treat vulnerability as a high priority, creating environments where they can safely participate in moderated community practices.”

While the ban continues, he says, Australia has created an environment where young people are still engaged on social media but don’t talk to their parents about it out of fear they shouldn’t be on these platforms.

“I don’t think it’s working in Australia and I continue to talk to other governments and tell them: ‘This is not the golden recipe, this is not the template you should follow,'” he says.

Doniya Soni-Clark, 33, TechUK

Soni-Clark, a co-director of the UK tech industry trade group representing major social media firms, said there was “broad consensus” against the ban within the TechUK membership, which includes platforms such as Spotify and Google. One important reason is to define what should be prohibited; members worry that banning platforms would be too punitive because they operate on social media. Instead, the government needs to focus on features that are considered unsafe.

“We are calling for universal standards for all platforms that children access, so if a particular feature is found to cause alarm this will be regulated across all platforms,” he says.

Meta, a big player in the industry as the owner of Facebook and Instagram, requires users to verify their age when setting up their smartphone or purchasing an app, and Mark Zuckerberg’s company provides additional age assurance once users open an account. Meta argues that social media platforms can provide an age-appropriate experience.

Béjar, a former senior engineer and consultant who owns Instagram and Facebook, has witnessed recent trials in the US that found Meta was liable for deliberately designing addictive products and misleading consumers about the security of its platforms.

He argues that social media companies have “squandered all the trust we’ve placed in them.” He supports an under-16 ban on unsafe platforms and, like other campaigners, wants a set of standards to be introduced for apps to meet.

“My dream would be to say: ‘This is security, and if you don’t meet this deadline, young people won’t have access until you do,'” he says.