Social Media Companies Could Face Fines For Underage Users Says Culture Secretary

20 May 2018, 15:31

The culture secretary says fines for social media companies could be introduced to protect children online as the government seeks to make the internet safer.

Matt Hancock believes the internet should be a safer place for children, and doesn't rule out the idea of fines for social media companies who allow children under 13-years-old to use them.

The culture secretary told Tom Swarbrick that the government has "committed to legislate in the future to make sure that we have a duty of care by the large social media providers to ensure the internet is a safe place to be."

Tom asked whether the prevention of children under the age of 13 could be policed.

At the moment, social media websites ask the age of users and have to rely on truthful answers in determining whether they can continue using the platform.

"It needs to work better than today," the secretary said.

"Even asking an adult to verify that a child is over the age would be a good start, and would be much better than where we are today."