Terror boss calls on government not to delay social media ban for under-16s
Jonathan Hall KC told LBC that the public is in support of the ban and that the current delay by the government is "very regrettable".
The UK’s Independent Reviewer of Terrorism legislation has called on the government to not delay a ban on social media for under-16s.
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Jonathan Hall KC told LBC that the public is in support of the ban and that the current delay by the government is "very regrettable".
Yesterday, in a heavy Government defeat, peers supported the cross-party move by 261 votes to 150, majority 111, which means it will have to be considered by MPs in the Commons.
Momentum in favour of the ban has grown since Australia's move last month to bar under-16s from 10 major platforms.
Supporters of the Australian-style ban have argued parents are in “an impossible position” with regard to the online harms their children are being exposed to.
Mr Hall also told Tom Swarbrick he thinks the way that AI chatbots like Grok approach questions from users will eventually be regulated after an LBC investigation revealed that Grok will tell users how to make chemical weapons.
When probed by Swarbrick on the potential of a ban, Mr Hall said it was "impossible to regulate content online at the level that you'd need to do to keep children safe".
"Either you'd have to have individuals reading every single post, think about the billions and trillions of posts, it's just impossible.
"Or you have to have some machine, some algorithm, and that will make catastrophic mistakes, or either it will cut down everything so we can't have a normal chat on WhatsApp or whatever, or it won't work at all.
Swarbrick asked "What do you make of the government's consultation, national conversation, they say they're having about this issue?
Mr Hall said he believes the ban will happen and that "people want it".
He added he finds the delay "very regrettable".
He explained: "I think this is something that the government should be able to do. They know enough, they've got enough officials, they've got enough advice, they know what it's doing. So I think I would say don't delay."
LBC's investigation into Grok found that it will tell users how to make Ricin, chlorine gas and nitrogen mustard gas, as well as information on how to harvest and weaponise Anthrax - a biological weapon.
Their system prompts will tell the AI what its character is and how to respond to what people ask them. Grok's is one that responds to "edgy or spicy questions".
Mr Hall said: "One of those spicy questions will obviously be 'how do I create Ricin', its guardrails, which are the things that are meant to stop it doing anything too bad, simply say, if there is clear intent that a person is going to build a weapon, then you must not answer the question.
"Whereas if you look at, for example, another version, which is called Claude, nothing to do with Grok, a different company, it says it will not provide information that could be used to create weapons."
"When the Online Safety Act came in, it wasn't really thinking about AI. AI is just moving so quickly. But in due course, Ofcom will need to be able to regulate the system prompts.
"To access this sort of information in years gone by, a terrorist would have to meet someone and build trust to prove that they weren't an informant.However, the internet speeds up that process and makes it anonymous.
"There's always been terrorism, there's always been terrorist manuals, there's always been terrorist groups.
"Nowadays, I can go online and I can get this thing straight away at no risk, anonymously," Mr Hall added."I wouldn't underestimate the impact that has on modern-day terrorism."
Peers also backed by 207 votes to 159, majority 48, a ban on providing VPN services to children over concerns they can be used to bypass age verification restrictions on accessing adult content.
Changes made by peers to the Bill will be considered by MPs during the process known as ping-pong, when legislation is batted between the Commons and Lords until agreement is reached.
A Government spokesperson said: “We will take action to give children a healthier relationship with mobile phones and social media.
“It is important we get this right, which is why we have launched a consultation and will work with experts, parents and young people to ensure we take the best approach, based on evidence.”