House of Lords votes to ban social media for under-16s

"UK government is edging closer to following Australia in blocking under-16s from social media accounts after the House of Lords voted in favor of a ban. On Wednesday evening, the Lords voted 261 to 150 in favor of amending the children's wellbeing and schools bill to require social media services to introduce age checks to block under-16s from access within a year. It will also require the chief medical officers to publish advice for parents on children's use of social media."

"The government moved its position on Tuesday when it launched a three-month consultation on keeping children safe online, which will consider banning under-16s from social media and raising the "digital age of consent," when children can give permission for their data to be used without parental consent, from 13 to 16."

"In a Lords debate before the vote, Conservative life peer Baron John Nash, a former education minister who introduced the amendment, said the last few years had seen massive increases in children's contact with mental health services, eating disorders among 17-19 year olds, disruptive behavior in schools, and sexual exploitation of children and teenagers. "We face nothing short of a societal catastrophe caused by the fact that so many of our children are addicted to social media," he said."

House of Lords voted 261 to 150 to amend the children's wellbeing and schools bill to require social media services to introduce age checks blocking under-16s within a year and to require chief medical officers to publish parental guidance on children's social media use. The amendment will become law unless MPs remove it when the bill returns to the House of Commons. The government launched a three-month consultation on keeping children safe online that will consider banning under-16s and raising the digital age of consent from 13 to 16. Ministers said they will study Australia's experience and may use secondary legislation to introduce a ban more quickly, citing rises in mental-health contacts, eating disorders, school disruption and sexual exploitation as driving concerns.

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