A big thank you to everyone who’s been in touch about proposals to raise the age limit for social media to ban under-16s.
From those who have been in touch from across Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton, the overwhelming majority were in favour of protecting our young people and the ban. Parents, carers and grandparents are rightly worried about the harm social media can cause to them, and they want action.
That’s why the government’s announcement a fortnight ago of a consultation was welcome. It’s a long-overdue step. Tech companies have had years to get their act together, and time and again they’ve fallen short. Recent issues, including around Grok, show just how fast things can go wrong when regulation can’t keep up.
As I spoke about in a Westminster Hall Debate in December, the Online Safety Act is progress, but it doesn’t go far enough. Like many Labour MPs, I support looking seriously at the Australian-led approach to banning social media for under-16s, as well as eight specific actions below to clean-up social media.
Children’s safety online must come before the interests of big tech. Thanks again to everyone who took the time to share their views, I’ll keep pushing for them to be heard.
If you want to share your views, please contact me jim.mamchon.uk@parliament.uk
Jim McMahon OBE MP 