Kemi Badenoch says Tories would ban under-16s from social media

"From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging."

"What we want to see is common sense protection for children and freedom for adults. We want to give parents some understanding that the Government understands what they're going through. So we want to bring in age limits. The internet is a wild west, social media in particular. We don't think children should be on there, and we want the industry to see the direction of travel so that we can start working with them now in order to get the proper solutions in place."

The Independent emphasizes on-the-ground journalism across issues such as reproductive rights, climate change and Big Tech, funded by donations to avoid paywalls. The Conservative Party proposes banning under-16s from accessing social media platforms if in power, arguing platforms profit from children's anxiety and are designed to be addictive. The teachers' union NASUWT supports legislation to require big tech to prevent child access. Australia implemented a social media ban for under-16s in December. The proposal aims to balance common-sense protection for children with freedom for adults and to prompt industry collaboration on effective safeguards.

Read at www.independent.co.uk