The UK is about to ban under-16s from social media. Its own child-safety charities are worried.
A UK under-16 social media ban, for years a fringe idea, is now days from becoming government policy. Ministers are expected to outline the plan to Parliament on Monday, ahead of the 18 June Makerfield by-election, according to POLITICO, which cited people familiar with discussions inside the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and No. 10. The timing could still slip.
The political logic is hard to miss. An embattled Keir Starmer, fighting to stay in office, wants a clear win, and the public mood is with him. The government’s “national conversation” on growing up online drew more than 116,000 submissions, the biggest response since the Conservatives proposed legalising same-sex marriage in 2012.
The government said last week that 89 per cent of parents who replied backed a legal minimum age of access for social media.
The powers are already in place. Part 3 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools...
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