My view on social media ban for under 16s

Bobby Dean reflects on residents' concerns about the impact phones and social media are having on young people.

Last year I launched Safer Screens in Carshalton & Wallington to listen directly to local people’s concerns. Through a series of public meetings and a survey, I heard what residents had to say about the steps parents, schools, tech companies and the Government should be taking to address growing concerns about the impact phones and social media are having on young minds .

As Liberal Democrats, we have long-been raising the alarm on social media harms as a public health crisis. That’s why we put forward and voted in favour of legislation to raise the digital age of data consent to 16 to stop tech companies profiteering from our children’s attention. We also voted to ban phones in schools and have called for health-style warnings on social media, as well as caps on doom-scrolling. 

For far too long, tech companies have profiteered from children's attention, building addictive algorithms which come at the expense of their mental and physical health, sleep and their concentration. After more than 20 years of this, it’s time for a reset. That is why we have tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, calling for film-style age ratings of up to 18 for the most harmful platforms, and a default rating of 16 for social media. 

The Liberal Democrats’ position is clear: if a platform spreads harmful content or relies on addictive and harmful algorithms, it should not be allowed anywhere near our children.

We must learn from what hasn’t worked in Australia, where new social media has emerged in a game of whack-a-mole. Our age-rating model would echo the film and video classification system established in the 1980s, adapting a futureproof harms-based approach with the teeth to back it up.

However, we would ensure that this model overcomes some of the technicalities of blanket under 16 bans—ensuring children can continue to access sites such as Wikipedia for schoolwork, and online crisis support like Childline forums, which are currently caught by the Online Safety Act’s user‑to‑user provisions. 

The Online Safety Act was an important first step towards creating a safer online space. However, much more needs to be done to address the harms that children are currently exposed to on social media platforms. 

I will continue to hold the government accountable for protecting our children online. 

– Bobby Dean