I have been inundated with emails from constituents about banning social media for under 16’s.
This week the Government set out its plans for a consultation and I welcome that consultation.
I will be holding events in Jarrow and Gateshead East to seek your views, but welcome all emails and comments with your thoughts.
We must act to protect children online and I have been calling for stronger protections online as well as for greater accountability of online platforms and technology companies. I’ve been campaigning for social media platforms to do more to protect young people, to be regulated and to be held to account when they fail.
There are too many stories about young children being shown graphic videos that have lasting traumatic impacts on their lives.
However, I am not sure that blanket bans work or that bans in isolation are enough to tackle the negative impacts social media can have.
Young people have phones and will use social media, what they need is to be educated on the risks of social media, digital literacy, photo consent and much more.
They need to know how to navigate social media, manage personal information, identify fake news and communicate safely. A ban risks driving social media use underground, increasing use of VPNs and other concerns.
That is why we need a consultation and to look at what evidence comes out of Australia and work out about what actually makes children safer online.
Whether or not that’s more support and education for parents and teachers, digital literacy training for all, better and more robust age verification, new ways to regulate and end the targeting of children or enforcement of the Online Safety Act
I welcome all views so please do comment below or email [email protected]