Wes Streeting says social media firms should be treated like tobacco industry as he piles pressure on Keir Starmer to introduce a ban for under-16s
Wes Streeting demanded social media companies be treated like tobacco companies as he pressured Keir Starmer to ban “addictive” sites aimed at under-16s.
The former health minister, who left his cabinet post earlier this month, called for action to ‘give our children their childhood back’.
The government is currently consulting on how to protect children online, with potential measures such as an Australian-style social media ban on under-16s, limiting addictive features and stronger controls on AI chatbots.
The consultation ends at the end of Tuesday and pressure is mounting on the Prime Minister to opt for a full ban.
Mr Streeting is among Labor MPs calling for Sir Keir’s resignation and is ready to enter any leadership contest to replace the Prime Minister.
Former deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who has also been mentioned as a possible leadership candidate, also called on Sir Keir to impose a social media ban on under-16s.
Meanwhile, medical leaders have joined Mr Streeting in comparing the dangers of social media to smoking.
Wes Streeting demands social media companies be treated like tobacco companies as he pressures Keir Starmer to ban “addictive” sites aimed at under-16s
Mr Streeting is among Labor MPs calling for Sir Keir’s resignation and is ready to enter any leadership contest to replace the Prime Minister.
Mr Streeting told Guard: ‘Social media should be treated like tobacco.
‘It’s highly addictive, bad for our health, and Big Tech is borrowing Big Tobacco’s playbook to avoid regulations.
‘We must give our children their childhood back. The under-16 ban should be the beginning, not the end.
‘We gave the pen to technology giants to write our future for us. It is time to take back the pen.”
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Tuesday, Mr Streeting was asked why he did not call for a ban when he was health minister.
‘I am freed from the obligations of collective responsibility, which means I can now say publicly what I think,’ he replied.
‘I voiced the same arguments within the Government; I also expressed it in the Cabinet.
‘I did these over a number of Cabinet committees and meetings where we discussed issues around education and welfare, but also violence against women and girls; I think we have serious grooming patterns and harmful behavior here again.’
A report submitted to government consultation by the Academy of Royal Colleges of Medicine said social media and smartphone use ‘rank alongside smoking and wearing seatbelts in cars as a unifying force for the medical profession’.
The report said doctors were seeing a “wave of radicalized children” due to exposure to “hateful, addictive and deeply disturbing content.”
Half of the 454 doctors surveyed by the academy, made up of 22 member royal colleges, said they treated at least one child a week whose mental problems or physical injuries were linked to online content.
The report included harrowing stories of deaths and injuries resulting from ‘copying extreme acts of pornography’ and interest in violence or radicalisation.
Families who have lost relatives to harm caused by online platforms will meet Sir Keir on Tuesday and urge him to fulfill the Government’s promise to impose social media restrictions on under-16s.
There are widespread calls for the UK to follow Australia’s ban, although there are questions about how effective the ban is.
Ministers announced in April that they would introduce ‘age or functionality restrictions’ on social media for under-16s regardless of the outcome of the consultation, with proposals to be announced by the summer and plans to legislate before the end of the year.
Labor leader Anna Turley told Times Radio that ‘nothing is off the table’ as the Government considers what action to take.
He said: ‘We have taken the time in this consultation to make sure we have listened absolutely to everyone to make sure we get the right outcome for the future of our children in this country.
‘I am delighted that the Prime Minister will be meeting some of the families who have been affected by the truly traumatic and horrific events that have occurred, who are campaigning at No10 today about social media and its impact on children.
‘I will be there to listen to them, to listen to their opinions. I know the Prime Minister takes this extremely seriously. And nothing is off the table.’
