Social media ban UK latest: Starmer announces under-16s crackdown in major online safety overhaul

Ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement this morning, campaigners have warned that a blanket social media ban would “fail to tackle the fundamental problems” with social media.

The Molly Rose Foundation, set up in memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who committed suicide after viewing harmful content online in 2017, said a social media ban would “fail to tackle key product safety risks and leave parents with a false sense of security”.

Chief executive Andy Burrows said: “The majority of children will continue to use high-risk sites, which have no incentive to implement robust protections.

“This is not what online safety experts believe will work or is necessary. Keir Starmer has chosen to abdicate his responsibility to combat harmful algorithms, and his legacy will set children’s safety back for years to come.”

Full Fact’s head of public relations, Mark Frankel, told The Independent that the organization was concerned about the impact of the ban on young people’s media literacy.

“We know that young people predominantly get their information from social media and that media literacy is a general issue when it comes to accessing information,” he said.

“It’s a problem when they’re denied access to information on social media platforms because what you’re really doing is taking with one hand and giving with the other.”

Leanda Barrington-Leach, chief executive of the 5Rights Foundation, a non-governmental organization campaigning for online safety, said: “A ban or curfew may change what comes through the front door, but it doesn’t change what awaits children inside” and that companies should be directed to “make their products safe for children”.

Monday’s announcement of a social media ban on under-16s follows a government consultation that received more than 116,000 responses from experts, parents and young people.

While 90 percent of parents who responded supported making 16 the minimum age for everyone to access social media, 85 percent said the risks of social media outweighed its benefits.

Lord Nash, the Conservative former education secretary who campaigned for an under-16 social media ban in the House of Lords, said: “The government now has the opportunity to draw a line in the sand and put an end to tech companies’ uncontrolled experiments with children’s safety.

“They must fully deliver on their commitment to raise the age limit for harmful platforms and features to 16, and have robust age verification in place to ensure this is properly implemented.

“Only by doing this can they end the devastating damage inflicted on a generation. Let’s give our children their childhood back.”

The Prime Minister said he would “take bold action” to keep children safe online.

Sir Keir Starmer said: “How to keep children safe online is one of the great debates of our time. As a father, I know every parent wants their child to grow up safe and happy.

“It’s a choice about whose side we’re on: families across the country, or a dysfunctional status quo.

“People rightly expect action and this government will always stand by parents and put children first.

“So we will end a system that is failing our children and take bold action to give every child the best possible start in life.”

The Prime Minister has vowed to take “bold action” in his fight to keep children safe online ahead of a series of sweeping reforms.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce the social media ban for under-16s at a Downing Street press conference on Monday.

It comes as the vast majority of parents responded to a government consultation supporting a minimum age of 16 for children to access social media platforms.