Rishi Sunak considers crackdown on social media use for under-16s

Rishi Sunak is considering a crackdown on social media use for teenagers under the age of 16, with a ban said to be one of the options on the table.

Ministers are mulling further action to limit children’s exposure to harmful content, despite bringing in new controls with the Online Safety Act earlier this year.

The government is reportedly ready to begin a consultation in January to look at the evidence of harms to young teens from using social media.

A ban on use by under-16s and improved parental controls are options under discussion, according to Bloomberg.

However, a government spokesperson played down the prospect of anything resembling a full ban. “From our point of view, we’re looking at ways to empower parents rather than crack down on anything in particular,” the spokesperson said.

They added: “We’ve identified that there is a gap in research, so we’ll be looking at what more research into it needs to be done, but nothing is yet signed off by ministers.”

It comes as schools minister Damian Hinds urged Facebook owner Meta to “rethink its decision” to bring in encrypted messaging amid fears for the safety of children.

The National Crime Agency has warned that the encryption move risks making it more difficult to stop paedophiles.

Mr Hinds told Times Radio: “It’s not about protecting people’s privacy … This is really a question about ability to intercept and to ultimately investigate, bring to justice people who are engaging in child abuse.”

The Online Safety Act means social media platforms will be required to prevent and rapidly remove illegal content, and stop children from seeing harmful material such as bullying or self-harm content by enforcing age limits and using age-checking measures.

Those that fail to comply will face fines of up to £18m or 10 per cent of annual global revenue, meaning potentially billions of pounds for the biggest firms.

Science minister Andrew Griffith said on Friday that reports that government was considering further action to curb social media use among children was only “speculation”.

But Mr Griffith appeared to confirm some more changes to “help parents” were under consideration – while arguing that Mr Sunak’s administration “isn’t a government that philosophically bans things for the sake of it”.

Asked whether he could provide more details following reports that restrictions could be placed on under-16s using social media platforms, Mr Griffith told LBC: “At this point, it is about a consultation that is rumoured to happen in the new year.”

He added: “It is about getting that balance. I know parents worry about these things, some bad things happen out there on social media – if we can help parents, then we will, but it is always about a balance.”

The Conservative minister said it was “right you don’t just charge off and do these things”, and that industry needed to be consulted about any potential new social media restrictions