Social media ban – why a big tech revolution and bolder action on Online Safety Act are key

It’s clear when a Government policy has cut through and touched people’s lives.

The decision to limit under 16s’ access to social media is one of those moments. It is reverberating around the world. It is being discussed over dinner tables, in workplaces, on busses, and in school yards.  

When young people, their parents, your colleagues, and the world’s biggest companies all have an opinion on an issue, you know the ripples will be felt well beyond Westminster – potentially for generations to come.  

The so-called social media ban is a revolutionary step, but is this a revolutionary moment for child safety?  

Because that is what’s needed. At the Internet Watch Foundation, we see the results of some of the most extreme online harms imaginable. 

We see children and young people facing sexual exploitation wherever we look. From extremely young children being groomed in minutes, to boys facing financial ‘sextortion’ at the hands of ruthless criminals, to the increasing commercialisation of children’s sexual abuse, with girls often facing the disproportionate brunt of sexual violence.

At worst, the ban could even send the wrong signal that companies can roll back on hard won safety steps they have already taken.

We often hear that this is less about banning children’s access to the internet, and more about banning the internet’s access to children. We believe there are wonderful and constructive opportunities for young people online, and that social media can be part of that.  But they need to be able to do that in an environment free from harm.

Young people should be allowed to communicate, share stories, play, and learn with each other, online and offline, in safety. They deserve an internet which has been built with their safety in mind, and which they can use without being preyed upon.

It’s safety by design, and it’s more than a slogan. It’s the way every new tool, platform, service, and product should be created before they are unleashed on the global public.

So, what will really make a big difference? Greater safeguards for end-to-end encrypted environments would make whole swathes of the internet safer, and give criminals fewer places to hide and distribute child sexual abuse.  

Companies should be prepared to completely revolutionise their processes where necessary to ensure services are safe by design and to stop unsafe products from reaching the market. This principle should apply regardless of whether children will be banned from the service or not.

The Government should also be looking at strengthening the enforcement of the Online Safety Act to address existing gaps in legislation and match the original ambition of the Act. Fortifying regulatory levers will also be an essential step if the Government wants to deliver a decisive and bold blow for child safety.  

Children’s online safety is very real, the threats they face are real – and the impact on a whole generation will be difficult to fully grasp. It may be years before we understand the true scale of the harm we are witnessing now.

Now, the Government has set their sights on protecting our children. We welcome this. Banning them from social media, though, is not the answer on its own. It needs to be part of a wider and tougher range of solutions.

Rather than simply stopping under 16s being on social media sites, we should also be thinking about how those sites can be made into safer places where they can thrive. Whatever levers are pulled to make that happen – this needs to be the end goal. Getting it right is critical.

The Internet Watch Foundation submitted a formal response to the UK Government’s national consultation on children’s online safety, Growing up in the online world.

Our response set out urgent recommendations to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSEA) online - spanning end-to-end encrypted environments, AI chatbots, and device-level protections.