Jereremy Clarkson ‘had no idea’ as he opens up on ‘serious problem’ | Celebrity News | Showbiz & TV

“I had no idea,” said Jeremy Clarkson, admitting he was blindsided by what he sees as one of the biggest dangers facing young people. Writing in The Sun, the former Top Gear presenter said that although he once worried about the more traditional risks of adolescence, he failed to realize that the most damaging effects were already at the hands of his children.

Reflecting on her experience as a parent, Clarkson said: “When my children were teenagers, I worried about them taking drugs and riding motorcycles, and I had no idea that the real danger was lurking in their phones.” His comments come as the Government prepares to tighten legislation aimed at tackling the spread of non-consensual intimate images online. Earlier this week Sir Keir Starmer pledged to strengthen the law for tech companies to remove such material within 48 hours of it being reported.

But Clarkson argues that the speed of online circulation makes this deadline unrealistic. “It’s ridiculous because if someone uploads a topless photo of you, all your friends will see it within 48 seconds,” he said. “Forty-eight hours on the Internet is about four million years old.”

The Prime Minister framed the proposed changes as part of a wider campaign to tackle online abuse targeting women and girls. Under the amendment to the Crime and Policing Act, platforms that fail to comply with removal requests within a two-day period could face serious financial penalties or even be blocked in the UK.

Starmer, who previously served as director of public prosecutions, said his experience had exposed him to “unimaginable, often lifelong suffering and traumatic violence against women and girls”. “As Prime Minister, I will leave no stone unturned in the fight to protect women from violence and abuse,” she said.

Describing the digital space as a new battleground, Starmer said: “The online world is the frontline of the 21st century fight against violence against women and girls. That’s why my government is taking urgent action against chatbots and ‘nudification’ tools.”

“Today, we are going further and warning companies to remove images without consent within 48 hours.

“Violence against women and girls has no place in our society and I will not rest until it is eradicated.”

Clarkson, 65, does not dispute the seriousness of the issue. In fact, he argues, the issue goes deeper than policymakers appreciate. He noted that the HBO series Euphoria, starring Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney, is a serious portrayal of the pressures facing modern teenagers.

“What Starmer should do is watch a TV show starring Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney. It’s called Euphoria and God knows what made me watch it – teenage angst and lots of male nudity aren’t normally my thing – but God I’m glad I did,” Clarkson said. “I know it’s a drama, but if only half the problems are real, society has a serious problem.”

According to Clarkson, the program highlighted how digital culture intensifies young people’s lives. He listed the dark elements he believes have become commonplace: “Bullying. D*ck pictures. Revenge porn threats. And if you say or do something that’s deemed out of line by an unseen, vigilant police force, it’s over.”

While she accepts that Starmer was right to focus on the impact of social media on young girls, she questions whether a 48-hour removal rule is sufficient in practice. “Starmer is right to think about the impact of social media on young girls. But to suggest that a platform should remove revenge nude photos and deepfakes within two days shows a lack of understanding of the scale of the problem.”