Parents, teachers and young people share their views on whether social media restrictions would work in the UK
Pressure is mounting on the UK government to introduce a ban on social media for under-16s, after a decisive vote in House of Lords in favour of Australian-style restrictions.
Peers backed a Tory-led amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill by 261 votes to 150, despite the government opposing the move. Ministers are already considering a ban as part of a consultation due to report by the summer and so the Lords amendment is unlikely to pass in the Commons. Starmer is also understood to want to wait until evidence from Australia’s ban, which came into force in December, has been assessed, though the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has urged him to “just get on with it”.
Here parents, teachers and young people share their views.
Laura, a parent from East Dunbartonshire, says the scale of harmful content circulating on social media has left many families feeling powerless. Laura, whose children are nine and 11, supports proposals to restrict children’s access to social media platforms, arguing that current safeguards leave too much exposure to chance.
