NEW DELHI: Social media might be restricted for those under the age of sixteen in the UK. Under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s leadership, the UK government is considering extra steps to safeguard teens under 16 from online threats, even after implementing the Online Safety Act.
Ministers plan to begin a consultation in January to gather evidence about the extent of potential harm to children through social media.
A ban on the use of social media under-16 and improved parental controls are reportedly options under discussion. While speaking to reporters at a regular briefing on Thursday, Rishi Sunak’s spokeswoman Camilla Marshall said, “We are looking broadly at this issue of keeping children safe online.” However, she refused to comment on specific measures under consideration.
Meanwhile, the National Crime Agency warned British parents about their children’s use of Facebook after Meta Platform Inc.’s move to introduce encrypted messaging, which has sparked concerns about their safety. UK Minister for Schools Damian Hinds on Thursday requested Meta to ‘rethink its decision’.
“It’s not about protecting people’s privacy. This is really a question about the ability to intercept and to ultimately investigate, bring to justice people who are engaging in child abuse,” Damian Hinds told to media.
Recently, the United Kingdom (UK) passed the Online Safety Act to increase the responsibilities of the companies providing user-to-user services to safeguard individuals, especially children on the internet, including age verification obligations.
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