Limit social media ban for under-16s to unsafe apps, Starmer urged

Key points

• Online safety campaigners have urged Keir Starmer to block under-16s from accessing social media apps that do not meet strict safety standards, instead of implementing a broader Australia-style ban.
• The NSPCC, Molly Rose Foundation and Smartphone Free Childhood said tech platforms should not be allowed to offer “risky” features to teenagers such as infinite scrolling, disappearing messages and push notifications.
• “We are asking you to act now to require tech platforms to meet strict safety standards to continue to offer their services to under-16s,” they wrote in a letter to the prime minister.
• “We believe a binary debate between banning children from social media or not can oversimplify what is a complex issue.
• Instead, platforms’ continued ability to offer accounts and services to children should be made conditional on their ability to demonstrate that they are safe.” In Australia, where access to apps including Instagram and TikTok is restricted for...