STORY
The Government is facing renewed pressure to act quickly on children’s online safety after campaigners whose children died after exposure to harmful online material met the Prime Minister. Ministers have been told to bring forward measures in “weeks, not months” after the consultation on Growing Up In The Online World closed with more than 80,000 responses.
The options under consideration include restrictions on under-16s using social media, limits on scrolling and overnight curfews for children. Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly took her own life in 2017 after viewing harmful material online, warned against a simple blanket ban, arguing that children would find ways around it and may then be less willing to speak up when things went wrong.
Sir Keir Starmer said the Government would be “decisive” and had asked ministers to develop a “game-changer” policy. The issue is becoming an increasingly significant test of how far ministers are willing to regulate technology companies, with campaigners arguing that the existing system still leaves children exposed to serious harms.