MPs reject under-16s social media ban, Starmer calls Big Tech into Downing Street

The House of Commons has rejected a proposal to ban under-16s from social media for the second time, voting 256 to 150 against a House of Lords amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill (CWSB). The defeated amendment, introduced by Lord Nash, sought a default ban while allowing ministers 12 months to specify which platforms would be affected.

The government successfully argued against the amendment to avoid pre-empting its own ongoing national consultation, which concludes next month. This consultation is exploring a wider range of measures, including raising the age limit from 13 to 16 and restricting addictive features such as autoplay and infinite scrolling. 

The vote took place as Prime Minister Keir Starmer prepared to meet leaders from several major tech companies, including Meta, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Snapchat, to discuss how to make quicker progress on internet safety. Ahead of the meeting, Starmer noted concerns raised by parents and experts about the impact social media has on children's concentration, sleep, relationships and views. "The evidence is mounting and the status quo simply cannot be allowed to stand," he claimed before adding, "parents aren't asking us for tweaks at the edges, they're asking us whether a system that clearly isn't working for children should be allowed to continue at all. Companies have to grip this and work with us to do better by British children."

While the prime minister stressed that social media firms must take responsibility, some charities, such as the Molly Rose Foundation (MRF), argue that strengthening the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) to restrict addictive design features is more effective than an outright ban. The MRF's position is informed by results from the first representative study of the Australian social media ban, which suggest that it hasn't been very effective at all. The study found that 61% of 1050 Australian 12-15 year-olds who had accounts on restricted platforms before the ban still have access to one or more accounts four months after it took effect. As a result, the MRF is advising the UK government to "follow the evidence" that an outright ban "won't deliver the immediate improvements in safety that parents and children demand and deserve."

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