Starmer's legacy hangs on standing up to big tech

Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google

The ultimatum to Big Tech is an important step forward for child protection that will keep children safer from the risks of grooming and being coerced into horrendous abuse by sadistic criminals.

It will also keep children safer from organised groups that extort young people into self-harm and even suicide by threatening to share nude images if they don’t comply with increasingly horrific demands.

This is what making tech platforms safe by design looks like in practice, but there is a long way to go, not least by being ready to legislate if companies don’t comply.

However, it seems muddled and incoherent to be announcing important safety-by-design measures on one hand and then be briefing out to The Times a flawed ban on social media for young people on the other.

Molly Rose Foundation has long warned that a flawed social media ban could have a chilling effect on safety, leave children at greater risk on unregulated platforms and make it harder for young people to reach out and get support for fear of being punished.

At times, the false-binary debate about whether to proceed with an under-16s social media ban has obscured the broader reality – that everyone agrees that decisive action to protect children online is urgently needed, and that a clear majority of parents want to be confident that the Government will commit to steps that will actually work.

The evidence from Australia shows a blanket ban is not working, with almost two-thirds of children continuing to use banned social media apps. The risk to gamble on children’s safety is too great.

Instead, the Prime Minister must be evidence-led. If he delivers a plan that has the teeth and rigour to bring about the transformative and lasting change that parents and young people want, and that the experts say can be achieved, he would be cheered on.

Britain would lead the world with an approach to children’s safety that makes building responsible products the price of tech firms doing business in the UK.

That starts with banning high-risk design features and functionalities and stopping the laissez-faire tolerance of the unacceptable.

Backed up by strong legislation that makes safety and wellbeing by design the status quo for all tech firms to follow, this could protect children across the board, on social media, gaming, messaging services and AI.

But if Starmer prioritises short-term announcements over what the evidence and experts say is needed, children and parents will be left to count the cost and child protection will take a step back.

In the next few days, the Prime Minister will make or break his legacy.

____________________

Andy Burrows is Chief Executive of Molly Rose Foundation.

LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.

To contact us, email opinion@lbc.co.uk