Making the online world safer for children - Ian Murray
As a father to two young daughters, I’ll never accept anything less than the safest standards for our children online.
So, I’m delighted that in recent weeks the UK Labour government has announced a wide-ranging national conversation about making the online world safer and healthier for children and young people.
A major national consultation is now underway looking at a range of measures to boost children’s wellbeing online, including introducing restrictions on addictive features like ‘streaks’ and ‘infinite scrolling’, a ban on accessing social media under a certain age, and improved age verification checks.
It's an issue I’ve heard a lot about from my constituents, many of whom are troubled by the mental health emergency taking hold among young people. There are many different views in the mix nationally – just this week, Anas Sarwar has come out strongly in support of a social media ban for under-16s.
As any parent or teacher knows, screens have an intoxicating allure for our children whilst at the same time being good education tools. It can be difficult to know what a healthy amount of screen time for our kids looks like. So, to support families, the government is producing screen time guidance for parents with children aged 5-16, with guidance for under-fives set to be published in April.
Any policy on this issue has to be guided by the best evidence and by what families and teachers are experiencing on the ground. Part of that means looking at what works, and what doesn’t work, in other countries. Given many children's charities are against a ban we must make sure we ket this right.
As part of our work on this issue, ministers will visit Australia to learn from their approach. They introduced a social media ban for under 16s which took effect last year. We must also make sure that young people themselves are at the heart of the conversation and that their views are included in the consultation.
This all builds on the work the Labour government has already done to make the online world safer for children. A key part of this is strengthening the Online Safety Act, which is all about protecting children from harmful content online. It’s one of the most stringent online safety laws in the world, requiring online platforms to actively prevent illegal content from being shared on their sites. Ofcom, the regulator, has full enforcement powers, which at the most severe level include blocking services in the UK and imposing fines of up to 10 per cent of global revenue.
The government is taking other steps to address this issue too. I’m really pleased to see, for example, that AI ‘nudification’ apps will be banned, protecting women and children from these appalling tools.
In related news, the City of Edinburgh Council has announced a public consultation on the use of mobile phones in secondary schools. They are calling for views from parents, pupils and staff, with the deadline for submissions on 2 March.
Technology has enormous potential to change our lives for the better, and contains huge opportunities for our economy and public services. But there are risks too. Making the online world safer and healthier for children is something I will always strive for. For my own children, and everyone else’s.