'The PM should be ashamed that the social media ban for children took so long'
Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott says it’s high time parents have had their voices heard
That it has taken the Prime Minister's own job being on the line for this government to finally do the right thing should be a source of shame.
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Three times Labour MPs were ordered to block our proposal for a ban for under-16s, and still we didn't give up.
The very reason we secured a consultation in the first place was because the Prime Minister didn’t want to risk losing another vote. It was all about his own self-preservation, but it shows that Conservatives in opposition can and are making a difference.
It says everything about Keir Starmer's premiership that the one thing his allies now want to bank as his "legacy" is something he spent almost his entire time in No 10 actively opposing.
The government’s u-turn is a result of relentless campaigning by health professionals, parents, teachers, and groups like Raise the Age and Mumsnet, backed by extraordinarily brave bereaved parents who kept fighting even when no one in Whitehall was listening.
Australia led the way when their ban came into force six months ago.
Within a month, platforms had deactivated around five million accounts belonging to under-16s. We've already tried the alternative policing content instead of age, through the Online Safety Act.
It's had some success keeping children off porn sites. But it's also crept into adult freedoms it had no business touching. Policing age, not content, is the right thing to do.
As ever, this government's left hand doesn't know what its right hand is doing. Ministers will rightly flag the danger of AI chatbots drawing young people into false relationships with a machine. Bonkers, dangerous, and frankly terrifying for the future of human connection.
But at the same time, they're rolling out AI tutors in schools and not for everyone, but specifically for the most disadvantaged children.
These are the children who most need a teacher in the room, and who are most at risk of being pulled into exactly the kind of dangerous machine "relationship" ministers claim to be worried about. It makes me despair.
Parents have finally had their voices heard. We're finally taking power back from the tech bros and handing it to parents and teachers.
By freeing children from the grip of screens and social media, we can give them back their childhood and the next generation can grow up with real relationships in the real world.
That's something everyone should welcome.
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Laura Trott is the Shadow Education Secretary
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