Parents today face an unenviable dilemma: trying to protect their children from the harms of the online world, whilst also wanting them to benefit from tech’s possibilities, and conscious that much of friendship groups’ interaction is online.
I hear from many local parents concerned about this area, and it is now getting a lot more attention in Parliament too.
Where we are today
The landmark legislation is the Online Safety Act which we passed in 2023. Some of that is already in force, some not yet. A new set of ‘Children’s Codes’ – which come out of the Act – should force more filtering out of more the very most harmful material for children. That is an important step, but we need more.
Unfortunately, a much anticipated private member’s bill, the Safer Phones Bill, got watered down to little more than a recommendation to the Chief Medical Officer to publish guidance on children’s smartphone and social media use at some point in the future.
I have also put down amendments to the Date Use and Access Bill – about what the minimum age for potentially-risky social media should be, and how that gets enforced. Sadly, the government did not support these amendments. In addition, I, alongside, a number of my colleagues, sought to see off mobile phone use during the school day (but not to and from school, for safety, or where needed for medical reasons), but our proposed amendment was blocked by the government. Meanwhile local schools in East Hampshire are themselves taking positive steps on this - a number of schools have now introduced their own bans.
The government has recently launched a consultation on whether under 16s should be banned from social media. This consultation also includes proposals to make the current guidelines on phones in schools, mandatory (a de-facto ban on phones in schools) alongside proposals on children's access to AI and blanket curfews on apps. The consultation can be accessed here: Growing up in the online world: a national consultation - GOV.UK. The closing date for responses is 26 May 2026.
In March I held meetings in Petersfield and Alton with concerned parents and grandparents to discuss the government's consultation. A copy of the slides can be found below. If you would like to keep up to date with my work in this area, please complete the form at the top of this page.
Sign the petition: Get Children off Social Media
