UK opposition would back under-16s social media ban
Kemi Badenoch, opposition leader from the Conservative Party in England, said that if her party is in power, it will ban those under the age of 16 from accessing social media platforms.
Badenoch told the BBC the platforms exploited children’s “anxiety” and “distraction” and were “designed to be addictive”.
It comes after the teachers’ union said the ruling Labor Party should introduce legislation that would prevent major tech platforms from accessing children’s platforms.
A social media ban on people under the age of 16 in Australia came into force in December.
Conservatives have said tech firms such as TikTok and Snapchat will be required to use government age checks that do not rely on digital identity.
“What we want to see is common sense – the protection of children and the freedom of adults,” Badenoch said. he said.
“We want to give parents an understanding that the government understands what they are going through, so we want to impose an age limit.
“The internet is a wild west, especially social media. We don’t think children should be there and we want the industry to see where it’s heading so we can start working with them now to put appropriate solutions in place.”
As a mother of three, Badenoch said she understands that age limits will not completely prevent children from accessing social media, but will alienate a “critical mass” of people from the platforms.
“Even from my own use of social media, I can see how it is designed to keep you there over and over again,” he said.
“We are also seeing a huge increase in depression, anxiety and mental health issues, some of which are quite strongly linked to social media use.
“We ensure that people graduate from university and continue receiving direct aid. We want to prevent this.
“So all of this ties into our broader strategy: banning phones in schools, getting people to work.
“These are all bricks that will build our policy wall.”
Dismissing the interviewer’s suggestion that he played “too much Candy Crush”, Badenoch said he didn’t play at all but used Instagram to check messages and “after half an hour you realize you’re just looking at memes and stuff like that”.
Andy Burnham, the Labor mayor of Greater Manchester, wrote of X after his interview: “I find myself agreeing with much of what Kemi Badenoch says about children and social media. It seems to me that parents would welcome a cross-party consensus around much bolder action.”
