Thank you to those constituents who have contacted me about raising the minimum age for access to social media. I am committed to ensuring children are safe online and that they have healthy relationships with social media. The safety of our children and grandchildren must be a priority.
Ministers have announced a three-month consultation into children’s social media use which will include exploring the option of banning it entirely for children under a certain age. It will also look at implementing a phone curfew to restrict excessive use of mobile phones and examine addictive design features such as ‘infinite scrolling’ and ‘streaks’. The results will be evidence-led and Ministers have said they will speak to parents, tech companies and children and young people themselves as part of a national conversation on this issue. The Government will respond to the consultation by this summer and I would encourage you to submit your views.
Ministers have also completed a study into the effects of smartphone and social media use on children. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is considering its findings and will publish the results in due course. I hope this study will build on previous legislation and help to ensure our laws are delivering safer spaces online.
As you may be aware, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is currently progressing through the House of Lords. I look forward to following its progress as it returns to the House of Commons in the coming weeks.
The implementation of the Online Safety Act has already given the UK some of the most robust online safety laws in the world, keeping children safer and illegal content off people’s screens. Since 25 July 2025, 6,000 sites have taken action to protect under-18s from harmful online content they should never be seeing. This includes pornography, suicide, self-harm, violence and hate speech. Additionally, the codes demand the most popular apps and sites protect children from seeing dangerous stunts or challenges, misogynistic, violent, hateful or abusive material and online bullying. I am pleased that the tech platforms have been made to take action to protect children and play their part in creating a better digital world.
Technology should enrich children’s lives, not harm them, and give every young person the childhood they deserve. I will of course continue to monitor this issue as it develops.
Best wishes
Rt Hon Hilary Benn
MP for Leeds South
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
[email protected] l www.hilarybennmp.com l X @hilarybennmp