Social media ban is a big but necessary step - Ian Murray
Like many across the country I was up into the early hours of Sunday morning enjoying Scotland’s win against Haiti.
After the delirium of the win (and the hangover) had subsided, it got me thinking about how much the world has changed since our last appearance at the World Cup in 1998.
CDs have fallen by the wayside, the Scottish Parliament has been founded, and in everyday conversation ‘Amazon’ has come more often to refer to an online retail giant than the South American river.
A big change, of course, has been the rise and rise of social media, which has transformed many aspects of life, from the way we keep in touch with people to how we receive news.
It has also changed childhood completely, bringing new ways for kids to connect, learn and express creativity, alongside grave risks in the form of inappropriate content, exposure to strangers online, and addictive features.
It was for that reason that earlier this year the Labour government launched the ‘growing up in the online world’ consultation. It gathered the views of parents, carers and most importantly children and young people themselves on how we can best prepare them for the future in an age of rapid change.
The results are now in and they are clear: 90 per cent of parents back a minimum age of 16 for social media, and two-thirds of children and young people also support this for at least some social media sites.
On Monday, the Prime Minister set out the government’s response. He announced a ban on social media platforms from offering their services to under-16s, alongside other measures to keep children safe online, including a minimum age of 18 for AI ‘romance chatbots’ and restrictions for under-16s on harmful functions such as livestreaming and communication with strangers.
It’s a big but necessary step. There are never perfect answers to hugely complicated questions, and it’s important to get the balance right, but the driving principle must be to protect children and young people. That’s my priority as an MP and as a father.
Current under 16 users will probably find it most challenging but the message has to be about the next ages coming up who have not yet adopted social media. That's just the honest reality.
I know from my constituency mailbag and email inbox that that priority is shared by parents across the south of Edinburgh.
It builds on the work this government has already done to challenge social media platforms and keep children safe online. We have made cyberflashing and content that promotes self-harm and suicide priority offences, and, moreover, have banned sinister ‘nudification’ apps.
Not everyone shares these priorities: Reform have vowed to rip up the Online Safety Act, the landmark law that has done much to make the online world safer for children.
Far from the media caricatures, today’s young people are as ebullient as any previous generation. Just last week I visited the Goodtrees Neighbourhood Centre in Moredun. It’s a model for community work and John and his team do a fantastic job.
But more so, the young people are a real credit to themselves, their families and the community. This government is determined to give them and to give all children and young people the freedom to be children again.