The government wants to know if you want to ban young people from social media.
In a consultation launching today, the British public will be asked how they want to protect young people online – and it could result in an Australia-style ban.
But blocking younger teenagers from apps like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram isn’t the only measure being considered.
Also on the table: overnight social media curfews, restrictions to “addictive” features like infinite scrolling and autoplay, and blocks to stop children using chatbots.
The government is describing this as the “world’s most ambitious consultation” and its results could bring about the biggest change to social media since Myspace went mainstream in the early noughties.
So why now?
Less than a year ago, I interviewed a bereaved mother, Ellen Roome, at her house in Cheltenham and she told me she wanted to ban children from social media.
Her son, Jools, died at just 14 years old after she believes he attempted a dangerous online challenge.
A ban sounded reasonable considering what she’d gone through, but unlikely to be coming into UK law any time soon.
Now, less than nine months later, the tide has turned. Widespread enforcement of the Online Safety Act’s age restrictions sparked conversations – and worries – about what young people were being exposed to online.
Speaking to Ellen Roome last July
Then, in December, Australia implemented a nationwide ban of under-16s from major social media sites.
A slew of other countries, including France, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy and more, are now planning to do the same.
If the polls are anything to go by, the British public wants to follow suit – and it could come soon.
The government has changed the way it would implement a ban, meaning that if the consultation suggests it’s a good idea, it could be in place within “months not years”, according to the prime minister earlier this month.
MPs and Lords will still get a chance to vote on the new rules but it won’t go through the lengthy legislative process it otherwise would have had to.
“We know parents everywhere are grappling with how much screen time their children should have, when they should give them a phone, what they are seeing online, and the impact all of this is having,” said Technology Secretary Liz Kendall.
“This is why we’re asking children and parents to take part in this landmark consultation on how young people can thrive in an age of rapid technological change.
“Together, we will create a digital world that gives young people the childhood they deserve and prepares them for the future.”
As well as asking the public what they want, with tailored consultations aimed at parents and young people, the government will run pilots around the country to test out some of the measures proposed… and see if they actually make a difference.
Although there’s broad support for something to be done to better protect the UK’s children online, there’s scepticism that an all-out ban is the way forward.
The UK’s leading children’s charity, the NSPCC, says it could push children towards less regulated sites and also create a cliff-edge effect when they turn 16 and are suddenly allowed access to the world’s social media.
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Instead, the government should just enforce the laws it already has in place around young people and social media, says the charity.
“Tech companies continue to design social media products that knowingly put children and young people in harm’s way,” said Chris Sherwood, chief executive at the NSPCC.
“Enforcing their existing age restrictions would protect 2.5 million children today, without the need for any new legislation. Yet they continue to profit while families are left to pick up the pieces.”
Fifty per cent of parents also told researchers at Public First they’d still allow access to social media even if a ban was put in place.
Working out the practicalities of any restrictions will be crucial to their success.
