NewsRescue
Under internet safety regulations proposed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, British people under the age of 16 may be prevented from using social media to preserve their mental health, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing insider sources.
According to the sources, a complete ban on young teens accessing platforms like TikTok, Twitch, and Snap is among the strictest measures under consideration by ministers aiming to gather data about how these platforms could potentially harm children ahead of a consultation scheduled for January.
The idea of a ban has sparked debate among the experts behind the UK’s Online Safety Act, with several describing it as unproductive in statements to reporters.
“The whole point of the Online Safety Act is to try and make platforms like social media platforms safe for children,” former Facebook executive Lord Allan of Hallam, who advised on the legislation, told The Times.
“What’s all that effort for if the alternative is to say, ‘well, they just can’t go on it at all’. It’s a completely different strategy from the one that the government has been marching down and investing massively in the last two years,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Sunak’s office played down the proposed ban, telling the outlet that the work is still in its early stages and no final decisions have been made. “We are looking broadly at this issue of keeping children safe online,” she stressed. Sources told Bloomberg the option had “not been ruled out,” however.
Ministers are “looking at ways to empower parents, rather than crack down on anything in particular,” another government source stated, highlighting a “gap in research” that merits further exploration rather than the blunt instrument of prohibition.
The UK approved the Online Safety Act in October, forcing social media sites to prevent and quickly delete illegal content such as terrorism and revenge porn or face fines of up to £17 million ($22 million) or 10% of global annual sales. The Act also mandates social media platforms to use age verification technologies to prevent youngsters from accessing illegal or dangerous information.
According to an Ofcom assessment published on Thursday, TikTok overstated its success in protecting young users from harmful content, noting that the firm still relied on youngsters to accurately indicate their age when signing up, rather than independently validating it.
According to The Times, the UK has seen a significant surge in mental illness among young people over the last decade, with one in every five children and young adults aged 8 to 25 now diagnosed with a probable mental condition. Researchers have been unable to prove a cause and effect association between social media use and an increased chance of smoking, drinking, drug use, and poor mental health.
