PM should support amendment to ban social media for under-16s – teaching union

The Prime Minister should fully support an amendment to ban social media for under-16s in the UK, the UK’s largest teaching union has said.

National Education Union (NEU) general secretary Daniel Kebede said Number 10 signalling it is open to raising the age limit for social media “was a welcome shift”.

It comes after 61 Labour MPs wrote to the Prime Minister calling for “urgent action” to raise the minimum age for social media platforms to 16.

This week, Lords will vote on an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which would require social media platforms to stop children under 16 from using their platforms within a year of the bill passing.

Mr Kebede said: “This week’s vote is a pivotal moment. No 10 has already signalled it won’t stand in the way of raising the age from 13 to 16. This was a welcome shift.

“The additional pressure from Labour backbench MPs needs to move Keir Starmer to full support of this amendment to ban social media for under 16s. This cannot be a moment for passivity – it demands leadership.

“Every day, parents and teachers see how social media shapes children’s identities and attention long before they sit their GCSEs, pulling them into isolating, endless loops of content.”

The open letter from MPs to Sir Keir Starmer expressed support for a similar model of ban to the one Australia recently introduced.

Signatories included Education Select Committee chair Helen Hayes, and former education minister Catherine McKinnell.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) general secretary Pepe Di’Iasio said school leaders share concerns with the MPs about the damaging impact social media can have.

“It’s time for social media companies to be properly held to account for the content published on their platforms, and we are sure that many school and college leaders would support some form of ban for under-16s,” he added.

The NAHT school leaders’ union said its national executive committee will make a formal decision on whether to support a social media ban for young people at its next meeting, but said a ban “seems inevitable” if tech companies do not protect children from harmful content.

“Online providers and social platforms need to expand and improve the moderating of content hosted on their sites, to minimise children’s exposure to harmful and inaccurate content,” said general secretary Paul Whiteman.

“They must ensure there are clear functions to report concerns, and establish more transparent codes of conduct outlining the implications of misuse.”

However, at the weekend 42 child protection charities and online safety groups issued a joint statement warning a blanket social media ban would not deliver the improvement in child safety and wellbeing needed, and would treat “the symptoms, not the problem”.

Instead, the Government should strengthen the online safety act to require platforms to robustly enforce risk-based age limits, the organisations said.

Asked by reporters on Monday whether he thought it was a good idea to restrict social media access, Sir Keir said he thought more needed to be done to protect children.

“That’s why we’re looking at a range of options and saying that no options are off the table,” he said.

“We are obviously looking at what’s happened in Australia, something I’ve discussed with the Australian prime minister (Anthony Albanese).

“I don’t think it’s just a question of social media and children under 16. I think we have got to look at a range of measures.

“I’m particularly concerned about screen time for under-fives, which is not so much about social media, but about literally screen time and the impact it’s having on children when they arrive at school.

“So, I do think we need to look across the range, but in direct answer to your question, do we need to do more to protect children when it comes to social media, and screen time, and associated harms? Then yes, we do, and that’s why we’re looking at a range of options.”