A petition to stop the government banning social media for under-16s in the UK has passed 150,000 – just over a day after it was announced.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer set out the plans in an early-morning press conference on Monday, saying he is ‘not prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children’.
While many charities and campaigners welcomed the news, there was also some notable criticism.
The Royal Society for Blind Children warned the ban ‘risks cutting off vital routes to connection for children who are already too often excluded’, and said it would be working to counter the impact.
Fact-checkers Full Fact, meanwhile, said the move was a ‘misguided, retrograde step and a de facto surrender in the fight against harmful online misinformation.’
A petition against a ban was launched on the official Parliament website in February, when pressure was growing on the government to announce one.
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Creator Leo Rhodes wrote: ‘I think the government shouldn’t ban social media for under 16s.
‘This is because for many young people social media is how they communicate with their friends. Some people view social media as a lifeline. A community, a supportive network.’
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Around three weeks later, the government began a consultation on making the online world safer for under-16s.
It became one of the biggest consultations ever run in the UK, with 116,000 responses included contributions from tens of thousands of parents across the country.
Yesterday’s announcement was the first official government response to the call for evidence, and it also covered livestreaming and gaming platforms.
It took mere hours after Starmer’s confirmation of the plans for the petition to pass 100,000 signatures, which means the issue will be considered for a debate in Parliament.
(Credits: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Shutterstock)
The number of signatures has grown a further 50% since yesterday, and is still rising by hundreds every few minutes.
Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: ‘We are giving children their childhood back.
‘I am clear-eyed about all the challenges that social media brings, for adults as well as children, and technology constantly changes.’
She told MPs other issues, such as the use of VPNs to skirt around restrictions, would be tackled next month following the end of a pilot scheme.
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