Access to Social Media for under-16s

Access to social media for under-16s is an issue of great importance to me, as I know it is for many constituents across Vauxhall and Camberwell Green. As both a mother of 2 children and your MP, believe that we must protect children’s wellbeing and safety wherever possible. Social media can pose a risk to both these things.

For these reasons I believe that the minimum age of access to social media should be raised to 16. The risks posed via mental health impacts, exposure to inappropriate content, and other online harms should not be understated. We should make every effort to protect children from these risks.

I thought it might be helpful for me to share a comment I made during a discussion on social media and non-consensual deepfakes in the House of Commons:

“We must continue to redouble our efforts to protect women and girls. Part of this abuse happens on social media. As the Secretary of State knows, there is a big conversation about banning social media for under-16s. More teaching unions, teachers and parents are coming out in favour of doing so, and a large majority of the public are also in favour. The Secretary of State said that she is prepared to go further; will she ensure that the Government review what has been done in Australia and ban social media for under-16s?”

As your MP, I will continue to support the development and scrutiny of a new policy in this area. The protection of children must always come first, and raising the age of access offers an important opportunity to support this.