Penistone and Stocksbridge MP, Miriam Cates, has urged the Prime Minister to consider banning social media and mobile phones for under-16s.
The Conservative backbencher claimed there had been a marked increase in "poor teen mental health" and "children addicted to pornography" since 2010.
The Conservative backbencher claimed there had been a marked increase in "poor teen mental health" and "children addicted to pornography" since 2010.
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00:00 social media bullying, including on TikTok and Snapchat. Since 2010, across the English-speaking
00:06 world there has been a marked increase in poor teen mental health, teen suicide attempts and
00:11 children addicted to pornography. The United Kingdom has a strong tradition of legislating
00:15 to protect children from serious threats to their safety and welfare. Does my right hon. Friend
00:20 agree that it is time to consider banning social media and perhaps even smartphones for under-16s?
00:29 My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the impact of what happens online on our children,
00:38 and that is why our Online Safety Act tackles both criminal activity online and protects children
00:44 from harmful or inappropriate content such as bullying or the promotion of self-harm,
00:49 accessing pornography and exposure to eating disorders. Ofcom is now rightly developing and
00:56 consulting on the guidance and codes of practice for how those platforms will meet their duties.
01:01 If it does not clean up its act, Ofcom will be able to impose fines of up to 10%
01:06 of global turnover on social media firms.
01:09 I will tell my hon. Friend that recently released documents reveal that the Government are not