The safety of our children must be a priority, and we must ensure they have a healthy relationship with social media. Now is the time for action on this matter.

Our UK Labour Government has launched a three-month consultation on children’s use of social media, which includes the option of banning access for children under a certain age. The consultation will also consider measures such as a phone curfew to limit excessive use, and restrictions on addictive design features like “infinite scrolling” and “streaks”.

The Government has also introduced an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill so that, whatever option is chosen, it will be able to act on the findings within months, rather than waiting years for primary legislation every time technology evolves.

We are seeking the views of parents, tech companies, and children and young people themselves. I encourage you to share your views before the consultation response is published this summer.

The Government has also completed a study into the effects of smartphone and social media use on children. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is considering its findings and will publish the results in due course. This study will build on previous legislation and help to ensure our laws are delivering safer spaces online.

More widely, the Online Safety Act is already having an impact by keeping children safer and reducing illegal content online. Since July 2025, 6,000 sites have taken action to protect under 18s from harmful online content they should never be seeing, including pornography, suicide, self-harm, violence and hate speech. The Government recently included measures to crackdown on illegal AI-generated content by forcing AI chatbots to abide by the Act.

Additionally, the Act demands that the most popular apps and sites protect children from seeing dangerous stunts or challenges, misogynistic, violent, hateful or abusive material, and online bullying. Ofcom, which enforces the Act, has already taken action against companies that have failed to comply, and issued a £1 million fine to an adult website which failed to use proper age checks.

I am determined to ensure technology enriches children’s lives, not harms them, giving every child the childhood they deserve. I will continue to monitor this serious issue as it develops.