Contributions
948 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sIt is really important that two things happen. First, there needs to be more support for parents and schools to do what many are already doing: preparing children for a life…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sThat is one of the issues that I thought extremely carefully about—it is one of the things that made me unsure as we were going through this. Young people are still able to go…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sI thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. There is obviously overwhelming support among parents, teachers, the police and others for an outright ban; then there are those who…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sMy hon. Friend is a passionate advocate. We are absolutely clear about the fact that these so-called romantic, or companion, sexualised chatbots are wrong for children, and we…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sAs I said in response to an earlier question, this was the issue that I wanted to grapple with the most. People want to find people who love in the same way, or who like the same…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sMy hon. Friend is a huge champion, and has pushed hard, for many of these measures and many more besides. The ban links to the device-level interventions we have talked about, but…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sAs I said earlier, we have the ability under the Children Act to restrict certain features and functions. That is why we are able to say that we will ban live streaming and…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sI am really glad that my hon. Friend has raised this issue. There was an important point in the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges’ response precisely about the physical health…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sWe want to provide the very best advice and support, based on the evidence, to parents, and also through schools.15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sI am so sorry to hear about what happened to Leo. I heard what my hon. Friend describes so many times during the course of the consultation, and many of the representations we…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have made great strides, with the £500 million in our Youth Matters national youth strategy, on rejuvenating our youth services and giving…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sThat is not part of the announcement that I have made today. I am always willing to look at people’s arguments on different issues. On a separate issue, we have now taken action…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sWe have a brilliant, fantastic, world-leading gaming industry in this country. That is why we are not including games under the blanket ban. However, I have been really concerned…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sThe hon. Lady is right to raise the issue of enforcement. That is why I have specifically asked the new incoming chair of Ofcom to hold an urgent review of its capabilities, to…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sFirst, young people can still go online. I think that this announcement will actually support news organisations—the BBC, Sky and all sorts of others—to do even more to provide…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sI understand that this announcement will be extremely difficult for many children who are on social media today—I know that it will cause a lot of worry and disquiet. I want to…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sI am glad that my hon. Friend believes his constituents will support this action. The Minister for Online Safety spent a week in Australia learning the lessons, including about…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sThis is a wake-up call for the companies: “You had your chance. You didn’t fulfil your existing obligations under the law. Enough.” That is really important for us to say. They…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sAbsolutely. This is about the social media companies putting their house in order. Lots of people have said, “Won’t you bow to pressure? You’ll cave under it.” I hope that today,…15 Jun 2026HANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sThat has been a really important question; researchers have raised being able to assess the impact and know what the social media companies know themselves, so that they can…15 Jun 2026