Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me in support of raising the minimum age for access to social media to 16.
As you say, it has become abundantly clear, through a growing body of evidence, that social media is not a guaranteed safe space for children and young people. I have received many emails from constituents in support of increasing the minimum age for social media.
Through social media, children and young people can be exposed to extreme violent content, sexual material and online strangers in ways that would never be accepted in the real world. British children spend almost three hours a day online, with 70 per cent of them seeing videos of real-life violence.
Over the past decade, as smartphone and social media use have increased, there has been a sharp increase in anxiety, isolation, self-harm, and poor sleep among young people, which has knock-on effects for learning and behaviour.
It is for these reasons that the Leader of HM Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, and the shadow Education Secretary, Laura Trott, have led the way in calling on the Government to help protect children from these harms by implementing a minimum age requirement for social media.
While I am firmly of the belief that it is not the role of government to tell adults what to think, there can be a role for government to draw clear, enforceable lines to protect children. In the same way that age restrictions on films, alcohol, and cigarettes are designed to protect children and young people from their harmful effects, setting a minimum age of 16 for social media serves the same purpose. Such a change would reduce children’s exposure to the harms of social media by removing a critical mass of young people from these platforms.
Far from undermining parental responsibility, implementing a minimum age requirement would serve as a vital support for parents. Many parents have made clear that this is not simply a matter of saying no: social media now has such extensive reach and influence that individual parental controls alone are no longer sufficient. Children can often bypass these controls with ease, leaving parents locked in a losing battle against algorithms designed to keep users engaged. This is why parents themselves are calling for action to support them in keeping their children safe.
Following pressure from Kemi Badenoch and the shadow Education Secretary, and now a growing number Labour backbenchers, I welcome that the Government has begun to shift its position on this and announced a consultation on children’s social media use. However, this does not go far enough, and we do not need any more dither and delay from the Government.
This week, despite opposition from the Government, Conservative peers successfully passed an amendment in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to raise the minimum age for social media to 16.
This amendment will now return to the House of Commons for a vote. I, and my colleagues in HM Opposition, will continue to lead efforts to see it progress through Parliament.
If you have not already done so, you can add your voice to call for this change by signing this petition: www.getkidsoffsocialmedia.com
Parents have been adamant for legislative support in the battle against social media and smartphones and I am proud that the Conservative party are firmly on the side of parents.
The Prime Minister now faces a clear choice.
Thank you once again for taking the time to contact me about this important issue. My colleagues in HM Opposition and I will continue to hold the Government to account on this matter.
Sincerely,
