Major replace on social media ban for U16s – ‘youngsters want their childhood again’
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the Government would act quickly with a series of measures to give ‘children their childhood back and prepare them for the future’
Under 16s could face a social media ban(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Plans to limit smartphone use for kids such as a social media ban for under 16s or overnight app curfews could be published within months.
Tech Secretary Liz Kendall said ministers would act quickly to give “children their childhood back and prepare them for the future”. The Government is set to launch a consultation on measures to keep children safe online, which is expected to be completed within four months.
Speaking to The Sunday Mirror, she said: “I’m going to announce on Monday that we will take a power in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that will allow us to implement the result of our consultation. We will take a power in the bill so that we can, once we’ve got the results of this consultation, act immediately on whichever option we go for, whether that is a ban on all social media for the under 16s or a whole range of other things like curfews overnight, emergency brakes to stop you from doom scrolling, action on VPNs to stop you getting around things.”
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Last year Australia introduced a new law, the first of its kind in the world, which prohibits children under 16 from using major social media sites. Ms Kendall also raised concerns about children playing video games with strangers online, and revealed action could also be taken to prevent it.
She said: “A couple of things that we will be consulting on which are around your sort of services, certain features and functions that people are worried about like live streaming, and stranger pairing on games.
“For some types of games, young people can be paired with strangers. We’re really worried about that, so we’re going to consult on that and we’re going to have a power within this bill to actually take action on it and put an age cap on that to say you are not allowed to have stranger pairings beneath it.
“These are issues that have been raised with us by parents and campaigning groups. This is urgent and we know parents want us to move as swiftly as possible.”
Ms Kendall said MPs would have a vote, and that the Government would “come forward with our proposal for what we do before the summer, then we will legislate as quickly as possible after that.”
