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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Libby Brooks

Tuesday briefing: Is a social media ban in the UK enough to help protect young people?

A young person wearing a lot of beaded bracelets stares intently at her mobile phone
Young people have to navigate a ‘digital-first’ world where online harms go beyond social media. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

Good morning. Keir Starmer’s expected speech next week about young people’s access to social media will be analysed as much for how it benefits the outcome of a certain byelection, as its safeguarding of children’s synapses.

After issuing an ultimatum to tech firms yesterday to block children’s phones from sharing nude images, the government is expected to make another major announcement about social media within days. Briefings suggest it will stop short of a blanket ban on under-16s accessing social media. But it will still amount to radical regulation, with Downing Street insisting that Starmer is up for a fight with big tech.

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