- Sir Keir Starmer has announced government plans to ban under-16s from most social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, from as early as spring next year.
- Young people have expressed mixed reactions. Hollie, 13, said she believes the ban is the “right thing to do” but thinks “it's going to be quite hard to enforce that rule because a lot of people might not agree with it”.
- Nancy, 15, said she believes a ban is “actually very positive” for children her age. “I really think it's a good thing because social media can bring up all sorts of bad stuff like bullying,” she added.
- Olivia, 14, said that while she supports some restrictions, she thinks children should be educated on how to use social media “positively”, rather than face a ban.
- Lucy, 16, broadly concurred, adding: “As a 16-year-old who has grown up with social media, I think it has positives and negatives. Although I find myself scrolling for longer than I should be, my friends and I use it as our main form of communication.”
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