Peers urged to vote for social media ban for under-16s

"Earlier this week, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall announced a "swift" consultation on measures to "keep children safe online" and seek views on the effectiveness of a ban. It will assess the merits of a ban for under-16s, as well as overnight curfews and actions to prevent "doom-scrolling". It would also look at whether more robust age checks could be implemented by social media firms, which could be forced to remove or limit features "which drive compulsive use of social media"."

"partly because polling showed "the vast majority of parents want it". "There is a huge volume of evidence in academic studies around the world that show quite clearly that excessive use of social media is damaging to children's health," he told the BBC's Today programme. He said his amendment proposed "highly effective age verification". "The social media companies are perfectly capable, and have told me this, of putting in place highly effective age verification.""

Peers in the House of Lords were urged to support a ban on social media for under-16s and an amendment to raise the minimum user age. The proposal follows Australia's recent ban and will be debated in the Lords. The Technology Secretary announced a swift consultation to assess an under-16 ban, overnight curfews, measures to prevent doom‑scrolling, and stronger age checks that could force firms to remove features driving compulsive use. Ofsted will instruct schools to reduce phone use and advise staff not to use devices for personal reasons in front of pupils. Proponents cite polling and academic studies on harm and seek highly effective age verification.

Read at www.bbc.com