Sir Keir Starmer has been forced into yet another climbdown after Labour paved the way for an Australia-style ban on children using social media.
The Government has announced plans to consult on banning social media for under-16s just weeks after the Prime Minister said he opposed such a restriction.
The move marks Labour’s 14th major U-turn since taking power and comes in a last-ditch attempt to head off a looming backbench rebellion.
The Prime Minister has been forced to act ahead of a Lords vote on an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that would ban under-16s from social media.
If it passes, Sir Keir faces the prospect of a major backbench rebellion when it returns to the Commons after more than 60 Labour MPs publicly called for Britain to follow Australia, which became the first country to ban social media for young people last month.
It comes just over a week after Business Secretary Peter Kyle – one of the Prime Minister’s closest allies – said he didn’t support an outright ban as it is ‘not the right way to go’.
Meanwhile Sir Keir said last month that he was not personally in favour of a ban, arguing it was ‘more about how you control the content that children can see’ rather than ‘a blanket ban’.
The announcement will be seen as a win for the Conservatives after Kemi Badenoch heaped pressure on the Prime minister by vowing to block under-16s from social media if she won the next election.
Sir Keir Starmer said as recently as last month that he was not personally in favour of a ban. But earlier on Monday the Prime Minister admitted he needs to ‘do more’ to safeguard young people online
The move will be seen as a win for the Conservatives after Kemi Badenoch heaped pressure on the Prime minister by vowing to block under-16s from social media if she won the next election
But on Monday the Tory leader blasted the ‘impotent’ Sir Keir for announcing yet another consultation rather than acting to protect young people from social media immediately.
‘This announcement perfectly sums up the impotency of Keir Starmer. It’s not even a real U-turn, it’s yet another consultation,’ Mrs Badenoch said.
‘The Prime Minister is trying to copy an announcement that the Conservatives made a week ago, and still not getting it right. The harm social media is doing to children is undeniable, and the Conservatives would get children off these adult platforms altogether.
‘By contrast, this is yet more dither and delay from Starmer and a Labour Party that have entirely run out of ideas.’
The Government will consult on ‘determining the right minimum age for children to access social media, including exploring a ban for children under a certain age’.
Other options to be consulted on include restricting night-time use through curfews, limits on app time, and restricting addictive design features such as ‘infinite scrolling’.
The Government said it will respond to the consultation in the summer, with ministers hoping the announcement will head off the immediate threat of a rebellion.
Recent polling from YouGov found that 74 per cent of Britons support a social media ban for u16s – while just 19 per cent opposed it – suggesting that any public consultation would force the Government to adopt a ban.
The mother of murdered Brianna Ghey (pictured) piled pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to back a ban on under-16s using social media
Esther Ghey, whose daughter was killed at the age of 16 by two 15-year-olds, urged the Prime Minister to support the introduction of new restrictions
It comes after 61 Labour MPs last weekend wrote to the Prime Minister calling for ‘urgent action’ to raise the minimum age for social media platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram to 16.
The MPs included Vicky Foxcroft, the former whip who helped lead the rebellion that forced the Government to shelve its proposed welfare cuts last year.
On Monday Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, joined voices calling for a ban as she wrote to Sir Keir urging him to take a ‘vital step in better protecting children online’.
‘I speak not only as Brianna’s mother, but alongside many other bereaved parents who have lost their children to harms that began or were amplified online,’ she wrote alongside 10 other bereaved parents.
Calling for a statutory ban on phones in schools and tougher action on social media giants through the Online Safety Act, Ms Ghey added: ‘The online world our children are living in, and the harms that come with it, are vast.
‘We need a multi-pronged approach to address this crisis properly, one that includes legislation, regulation, education, and societal change.’
A ban has also been supported by Baroness Hilary Cass, a paediatrician who led the review into NHS treatment of children with gender dysphoria, who said warned that the ‘longer we wait, the more children we fail’.
Other measures announced by the Government include Ofsted inspectors being tasked with checking mobile phone bans in schools are being properly enforced and new screen time guidance for parents.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: ‘We have been clear that mobile phones have no place in our schools but now we’re going further through tougher guidance and stronger enforcement. Mobile phones have no place in schools. No ifs, no buts.’
However shadow education secretary Laura Trott said that guidance on mobile phone bans in schools has so far failed and the Government now ‘must legislate’.
She added: ‘This is progress, but it doesn’t go far enough. We don’t need to ask whether a ban is necessary, the evidence is overwhelming.’
Despite the concession, concerns remain among some in Government that the Australian ban has not been as straightforward as anticipated.
Officials and child safety advocates are concerned about the unintended consequences of an outright ban, including fears that it could push children onto the dark web.
Last weekend 42 child protection charities and online safety groups – including the NSPCC and Molly Rose Foundation – issued a statement warning a blanket social media ban would not deliver the improvement in child safety needed and would treat ‘the symptoms, not the problem’.
Instead, the Government should strengthen its Online Safety Act to require platforms to robustly enforce risk-based age limits, the organisations said.
An outright ban is also opposed by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who said he believes the UK should delay a ban until the Australian measures are reviewed.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: ‘Through the Online Safety Act, this government has already taken clear, concrete steps to deliver a safer online world for our children and young people.
‘These laws were never meant to be the end point, and we know parents still have serious concerns. That is why I am prepared to take further action.
‘Technology has huge potential – to create jobs, transform public services, and improve lives. But we will only seize on that potential if people know they and their children are safe online.
‘We are determined to ensure technology enriches children’s lives, not harms them – and to give every child the childhood they deserve.’
