Starmer must stop dithering and make social media platforms pay for the harm they cause

Of course, children need protection. The tragic death of Molly Russell illustrates that only too clearly. But it is not nearly enough.

The UK is under attack from social media platforms designed to amplify outrage, division and fear. Playing whack-a-mole with the harms they cause will not touch the sides of the problem. We need bold, decisive action.

All of us are in danger from the harms wrought by the tech bros. Now we have the Labour MP Jess Asato bravely bringing legal action against Musk’s XAI company over the sexualised images Grok created of her and millions of other women in January.

The Prime Minister has said Asato is “absolutely right” to take legal action over the “disgusting” images created of her. He is right to back her. But backing her is not enough.

It is not leadership to stand on the sidelines cheering someone on while they take on a bully you have the power to stop.

Government is not there to shout encouragement after the damage is done or to take piecemeal action to protect one section of the public. It is there to change the rules so the damage is not done in the first place.

It should not be left to Jess Asato to sue, or to Molly Russell’s family and other bereaved parents to campaign year after year, while the Government holds the power to act.

An age ban may move some children away from social media. It may reduce exposure for teenagers who do not navigate the age limits. But it does not change the business model. It does not stop platforms from amplifying harm. It does not stop them monetising outrage, misogyny, racism, conspiracy theories, abuse and despair. And, it does not stop them from corroding democracy.

A lone judge in Brazil showed the way. In August 2024, X was suspended after refusing to comply with court orders. Just over a month later, it was back online, having complied. Musk has previously said: “We can’t go beyond the laws of a country.” Exactly.

So Britain should change the law.

Here’s what Keir Starmer could do right now that would completely change the balance of power: close the legal loophole that allows social media companies to escape responsibility for what they publish.

At present, platforms are not treated as publishers in law. That is legal nonsense, given that they curate, recommend, amplify, target, and profit from the content they propagate. They shape what millions see and believe. It is time to make them legally and financially accountable for the harm they profit from.

There is a simple, bold piece of legislation that the organisation I lead, Compassion in Politics, has had drafted and is ready to go. The Government could introduce it as emergency legislation and change the balance of power overnight.

Its core principle is clear: where a large social media platform algorithmically promotes, recommends, targets, boosts or monetises content, it should be treated in law as having published that content.

That would not end free speech. It would simply mean that the most powerful communications companies in history could no longer profit from harm while pretending they had nothing to do with it.

We expect this everywhere else. Newspapers are responsible for what they publish. Advertisers cannot say anything they like. Companies that sell dangerous products can be held accountable for the damage they cause.

But social media giants have been allowed to behave as if responsibility is for everyone except them.

That era needs to end. This is not just an issue of child or personal safety. It is a democratic issue.

A functioning democracy depends on some shared sense of reality. It depends on trust, truth and the ability to disagree without being dehumanised. But the online public square is now run by companies whose profits rise when people are kept angry, addicted and divided.

We see the consequences every day: lies travelling faster than corrections, conspiracy theories moving into the mainstream, women and minorities being targeted, abuse driving people out of public life, and politics becoming uglier, crueller and less human.

No democracy can remain healthy if the systems through which people receive information are designed to inflame them.

The stakes are high. We have seen how swiftly democracy is being dismantled in the United States. The Bill is ready, and the principle is clear.

Starmer has a choice.

He can tinker at the edges and call it action. Or he can do the one thing that would really change the balance of power: make social media platforms legally and financially accountable for what they choose to amplify.

The question is whether the Government will have the courage to do so, or whether the tech-bro bully boys will win again.

Starmer must stop dithering and make those who cause the harm pay. Only then will the business models destroying our mental, social and political health have to change.

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Jennifer Nadel is the CEO of Compassion in Politics.

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