LABOUR’S mayor of Greater Manchester has said he agrees with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch on the need for tougher action to protect young people online, adding to mounting pressure on No 10 to restrict social media use among under-16s.
Andy Burnham’s intervention comes as the Conservatives step up calls for limits on children’s access to social media, arguing that platforms are harming young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
The government is understood to have no plans to introduce a “blanket ban” on social media for under-16s. However, it is closely monitoring the impact of measures already in place to stop children from setting up accounts on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch.
Concerns about the effect of social media on teenagers have been growing across the political spectrum. Badenoch said the Conservatives would support a ban on social media for under-16s to prevent addictive platforms from causing harm.
She said she disliked the word “ban”, but wanted to see an age limit of 16, similar to restrictions introduced in Australia.
Her comments come ahead of a cross-party attempt in the House of Lords later this month to amend the children’s wellbeing and schools bill to introduce such a restriction.
Support for tougher action is not confined to the right. Burnham, seen as a potential future Labour leadership contender, said on Sunday: “I find myself agreeing with a lot of what Kemi Badenoch is saying about children and social media. It seems to me parents would welcome a cross-party consensus around much bolder action.”
Over the weekend, NASUWT, one of the UK’s largest teaching unions, urged the government to ban social media for under-16s, citing concerns about pupils’ mental health and ability to concentrate. The union wants tighter legislation that would impose penalties on big tech firms that allow children onto their platforms.
The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has also recently indicated he would like to see stronger protections for children online.
The prime minister, Keir Starmer, has previously said he is personally opposed to a ban, while the technology secretary, Liz Kendall, has also voiced her resistance. Nevertheless, the government is watching closely how Australia’s restrictions are working and weighing its policy options.
Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch said: “What we are seeing is a lot of children spending so many hours a day on platforms that are profiting from their anxiety, from their distraction, and they are actually designed to be addictive.
“So what we want to see is common sense, protection for children and freedom for adults. We want to give parents some understanding that the government understands what they’re going through. So we want to bring in age limits.
“The internet is a wild west, social media in particular. We don’t think children should be on there, and we want the industry to set the direction of travel so that we can start working with them now in order to get the proper solutions in place.”
Some peers believe a defeat for the government in the Lords over the children’s wellbeing and schools bill could force ministers to rethink their stance on social media and children.
John Nash, the Conservative peer and former schools minister who has tabled the amendment, said on Sunday: “Raising the age limit for social media now has backing from across the political spectrum, including Labour and Liberal Democrat parliamentarians, the NEU and the NASUWT.
“The evidence is overwhelming and the political support is there. The government should back my amendment and begin to reverse catastrophic harm to a generation of children.”
Ministers argue they have already taken significant steps to protect young people through the Online Safety Act, which requires social media companies to shield under-18s from harmful content such as material relating to self-harm and suicide. The government has said it remains willing to listen to parents and will do whatever is necessary to keep children safe online.
