Keir Starmer thinks the UK needs to “act” to social media Ban from being addicting.
In his strongest intervention yet, PM says some features ‘shouldn’t be permitted’, while education secretary says things ‘are going to change’
Keir Starmer has said that addictive social media features “shouldn’t be allowed” in what is his boldest call yet for limits on internet corporations.
The prime minister said the government will “have to act” on the algorithms that keep kids and teens hooked on social media, such scrolling or “streaks” that make people want to use apps every day.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, stated that social media was “designed to keep you there.” She also said that the government’s study on social media use would look hard at how to deal with addictive aspects.
After a US lawsuit found Meta and Google responsible for a woman’s youthful addiction to social media and gave her $6 million in damages, these comments were made. The businesses plan to fight back.
Starmer told the Sunday Mirror, “This is the platforms trying to get kids to stay on longer and get hooked.” I don’t think there’s a case for it, so I know we need to do something.
Starmer stated he was “open-minded” regarding a ban on social media for people under 16, which has been put in place in Australia. He also said that there would be big changes after the survey.
“We’ll go through the consultation, but I want to be very clear: things will not stay the same.” Things are going to change. “I don’t think the next generation would forgive us if we didn’t do something now.”
Phillipson said on Sunday that there were numerous solutions being considered after the government released new rules for screen use for kids under five.
“I think it’s hard for an adult to avoid the conclusion that some of this is meant to get your attention and keep it.” “That’s one thing for an adult, but we really need to think about what that means for the brains of younger kids,” she said on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show.
When asked if sites were made to be addictive, Phillipson stated, “I think they want to keep you there.” I believe that is the goal now, and the consultation made it obvious that we are going to look at the addictive aspects and some of the algorithmically driven content that we know may be harmful to our youngest kids.
She noted that a prohibition on addictive algorithms for younger users was “something we’re thinking about as part of that larger conversation about young people in general.” We are also thinking about all of the issues related to social media, such as whether there should be an age limit for the digital age of consent and whether there should be limits on addictive content and algorithmically driven content.
As part of a government pilot, hundreds of UK teens will try out prohibitions on social media, digital curfews, and time limits on apps during the consultation. A group of 300 teens from all four nations of the UK will have their social apps turned off, which is like enforcing a social media ban at home.
Almost 30,000 parents and kids have answered the government’s digital wellbeing survey, which ends on May 26.