BURSTPrime minister to give speech on the government’s technology policy this morning
The Times this morning is reporting that Keir Starmer will soon announce a ban on “harmful” social media platforms for under-16s. (See 8.27am.) In their story, Max Kendix, Stefan Boscia and Oliver Wright say:
Those familiar with the proposals said the prime minister was looking at a “hybrid” system that would include elements of the Australian ban and the outlawing of specific features such as infinite scrolling, push notifications and autoplay.
One source claimed the proposals could have more “granular” age restrictions by limiting certain features and sites to different age groups rather than a blanket under-16s ban like in Australia.
If we are genuinely seeking to safeguard children from harm, we cannot allow 16- and 17-year-olds to have lesser protection …
I am calling for all online services – not just social media platforms, but gaming sites and any platforms that make use of harmful features and functionalities – to be banned from accessing children, until they can prove that they are designed in a way that will protect children’s safety and wellbeing.
[We should] ban the companies from having access to our children until they prove that they are actually worthy of them. If they’ve got these terrible algorithms, of course they should be banned.
I just want to frame it not as a ban on children – the children have done nothing wrong. We are protecting children by not allowing these companies to have access to them.
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