2 days ago
Starmer confirms social media ban for under-16s, saying this is 'big moment for our country'
Starmer confirms the ban is happening.
Today is a big moment for our country. This is a big step, a real change for our children and our future.
Because today I can announce that the government will ban access to social media for all children under the age of 16.
Key events
Starmer says he thinks there is 'correlation' between smartphone use and rise in number of teenagers with mental health issues
Q: Do you think there is a link between smartphone use and the epidemic of mental health problems that young people are having?
Starmer replied:
I think there is a correlation. Obviously establishing hard evidence is always difficult, but I do think there’s a correlation.
He did not go as far as saying there was a causal relationship.
Q: Have you spoken to President Trump about this?
Starmer said he spoke to Trump yesterday afternoon. And he will see him at the G7 later today, he said. They would discuss “this and many other issues”.
He said other world leaders were interested in this too. They would be looking to see if the UK approach provided a blueprint, he said.
Q: What is your message to Ian Russell, father of Molly Russell, who thinks you are rushing this and who is against a ban?
Starmer said he had the “highest respect” for Ian Russell. He went on:
I’ve had the opportunity to talk this through with him, on a number of occasions, including just a few weeks ago. I have the highest regard and highest respect for him and his views. I’ve heard them first hand from him, and I understand how deeply he is concerned about.
And I honestly do also recognise he’s been through an experience I haven’t been through. And, I have to acknowledge that and have to be humbled by that.
Starmer said he knew that Russell was concerned that a straightforward ban would not deal with the problem of what content is available. He said, as well as the ban, the government was also putting in place measures for under-18s dealing with stranger engagement and live streaming. He said he thought those measures addressed some of Russell’s concerns.
On the question of rushing, Starmer said there had been a consultation.
He went on:
But I don’t want anything in my answer to be in any way disrespectful to Ian, or others that hold a different view, particularly those that have lost a child. I don’t think that’s right.
It is possible to deeply respect someone of their views, but come to a different conclusion.
Starmer plays down suggestions Trump's opposition to social media ban for under-16s could cause problems
Q: How will you explain this to President Trump, whose administration has opposed this?
Starmer replied:
Look, I honestly think that, across world leaders, there has always been a recognition that leaders have to take steps to protect children. I don’t think that’s controversial.
Starmer said he did not anticipate a problem.
And he said he would be discussing this with other world leaders, including Trump, at the G7 later.
Starmer says teenagers won't be punished for trying to get round ban
Q: Will you fine children who ignore the ban? And what are the implications for freedom of speech?
On teenagers, Starmer said:
We’re not going to start taking action against 13 or 14, 15-year-olds who are trying, as they always will, to get around the rules that adults put in their path.
And, on freedom of speech, Starmer said:
I’m a great advocate of free speech, I really am.
But sending sexually explicit pictures to and from children – that’s not free speech, that’s basic protection.
Starmer dismisses claim this is just about announcing legacy policy before byelection
Q: Is this announcement about you wanting a political legacy?
Starmer said there were people in the room who have been campaigning for years on this issue. He went on:
And I think we do them and all those who’ve been concerned about this, a disservice to try to put that into a particular week where there’s a byelection. That’s not what it’s about.
This is a huge this is a statement of our values, who we are as a country. and it’s a way of actually bringing our country together.
So for me, this is bigger than some of the usual to and fros of politics, although there’s plenty of that.
Q: Are you worried about how Big Tech and the US will respond?
Starmer said he was “a fan of tech” and he regarded himself as pro-tech.
I think it can be pro-AI and tech, which I am, but, at the same time, protecting our children, which I am for too, are not incompatible. They’re not mutually exclusive. I think they go together.
And actually, talking to the big tech companies, they know very well that they and all of us have a responsibility to protect children.
Starmer says he thinks government will be able to enforce ban
Q: Will this stop children accessing useful services? And won’t teenagers get round this with VPN services?
Starmer said some services, like YouTube Kids, would be protected.
He repeated the point about how some children will get round this. (See 8.27am.)
And he said the government had learned from the Australian experience.
I think we’ll be better at enforcing it, actually, having learned from the Australian model and having learned from our own experience with the Online Safety Act.
So I genuinely think we can enforce it.
Starmer suggests he changed his views during consultation - and defends being willing to listen and respond
Q: When did you change your mind on this?
Starmer says he started the consulation with an open mind.
It is a step that I’ve taken after sitting down and listening, particularly to parents who had lost, usually a teenager, in relation to what happened on social media …
[I am taking the decision] having looked at the evidence, having gone through the consultation, having looked at what happened in other countries, having listened, to parents, grieving parents, listened hard.
And you can listen in two ways. You could listen in a sense if you’re just going through the motions, or you can listen and you can take in what people are saying to you.
I’m in the second category – always have been – and that’s why I’m absolutely clear in my mind that this ban is the right outcome.
Starmer says he hopes ban will come into force around springtime next year
Starmer is now taking questions.
Q: When will this start?
Starmer says the government can move quickly.
We took powers, earlier this year to make sure we could move at speed.
I was very conscious that with the Online Safety Act it took the last government eight years from sort of identifying the beginnings of the problem to actually passing legislation, and [I] was determined that will not happen in this case.
He says legislation already passed gives ministers the powers to act using secondary legislation.
He says:
We hope to pass regulation before Christmas, and therefore to bring the ban into force in the early part of next year, probably about springtime, so we can move a real pace here.
