Online Reporter
LONDON. – The UK government has launched a consultation on banning social media for under 16s in the country as part of a series of measures which it says are intended to “protect young people’s wellbeing.”
The package will also see England’s education inspectorate, Ofsted, given the power to check policies on phone use when it goes into schools, with ministers saying they expect schools to be “phone-free by default” as a result.
The world’s first social media ban for young people took effect in Australia in December last year, prompting other countries, including the UK, to consider following suit.
Some experts and children’s charities have cautioned against the idea – but it has strong backing elsewhere.
On Sunday, more than 60 Labour MPs wrote to the Prime Minister saying the backed a ban with the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey also calling on the government to act.
“Some argue that vulnerable children need access to social media to find their community,” Brianna’s mother Esther Ghey wrote in a letter seen by the BBC.
“As the parent of an extremely vulnerable and trans child, I strongly disagree.
“In Brianna’s case, social media limited her ability to engage in real-world social interactions. She had real friends, but she chose to live online instead.”
The former school standards minister Catherine McKinnell, who is one of the MPs who signed the open letter to Sir Keir Starmer, told BBC News parents currently “felt unprepared to deal with the pace at which social media has changed.” − BBC
