Media Ban

Molly Rose Foundation says government should instead set strict safety standards for appsA rushed under-16s social media ban in the UK could unravel and families will be left to count the cost, a leading child safety charity has warned.The Molly Rose Foundation (MRF) said an age limit on the use of tech platforms could unravel, after a report that the prime minister, Keir Starmer, is to announce a ban on under-16s accessing “harmful” social media apps. Continue reading...

The $26m deal involving media executive Bruce McWilliam signifies return to media business for mining billionaire after previous holdings in Fairfax and TenFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, has bankrolled former Seven media executive Bruce McWilliam’s acquisition of an almost 10% stake in Southern Cross Media, which owns the Seven Network, the Triple M and Hit radio brands and West Australian Newspapers.While the unusual arrangement – worth about $26m – does not give Rinehart a direct stake in Southern Cross, she could take control of the shares if McWilliam breaches the terms of their deed, which was published on the ASX on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Ellen Roome, whose son, Jools Sweeney, was 14 when he died, wants a ban put in place for under-16sThe mother of a teenager who believes he died in a TikTok challenge gone wrong has said that Downing Street has been too slow to move towards a social media ban for under-16s, and accused the government of “kicking it down the road”.Ellen Roome, the mother of Jools Sweeney, 14, is among the families who will meet Keir Starmer on Tuesday as a consultation into the social media ban closes this week. Continue reading...

Former health secretary says he unsuccessfully argued for tougher action when in cabinetGood morning. The government has been consulting on whether to follow Australia and impose a ban on social media for under-16s, or whether to opt for other restrictions, and the consultation ends at 11.59pm tonight. Keir Starmer is expected to announce the government’s response soon afterwards. He has already said that there will be action of some sort. Last year ministers were sceptical about following the Australian example, but this is an issue where opinion – both in government, and in society more broadly – has been shifting very quickly.This morning Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who is running what is in effect a leadership campaign, has intervened. As the Guardian reports, he has said that a social media ban for under-16s “must be the start, not the end” and he has compared the sector to the tobacco industry.Streeting restated his claim that social media is like the tobacco industry and suggested that, just as tobacco bosses did in the mid-20th century, social media executives have been suppressing evidence about the full extent of the harm caused by their products. He said:What we’ve seen from Big Tech is behaviour akin to Big Tobacco … We know from whistleblowers that in the tech industry, among those who are responsible for designing technology, including social media platforms, that are changing every aspect of our lives, they know that the product they’re designing is addictive, they know that it is harmful, and the business model is orientated towards getting kids while they’re young, addicting them with the design features that are designed for addiction, to grab your attention and keep you on their platform for as long as possible.He said there was a “growing body of evidence” about the ways in which social media is harmful.And then we see the consequences beginning to emerge through the growing body of evidence about the impact of this technology on childhood, whether that is sleep, concentration, learning, health, wellbeing, including mental health.The harms are evident.He claimed governmments around the world had been “asleep at the wheel” on this issue. “Frankly, legislators, regulators, have been asleep at the wheel on this,” he said.He suggested that Keir Starmer had been “behind the curve” on this issue. While he was not overly criticial of the PM on this issue, suggesting that governments around the world have been slow to confront social media companies on this issue, he made it clear that he thought the Starmer government could have acted more quickly. He said that he was speaking out now because he was “liberated from the obligations of collective responsibility”. He said the arguments he was making in public today were the ones he was making privately in government, “in a number of cabinet committees and meetings”, and that he “pushed as hard as I could”. He said the government was now moving to a “better position”, but he suggested Starmer could have acted more quickly.To be fair to Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, she came into office [in September last year], she’s gripped this, she’s chosen to run a rapid consultation with the principle of how to implement restrictions, rather than whether. That’s all positive. And I trust Liz Kendall to act quickly following the closure of the consultation today.And we must, because, as I say, we’re behind the curve. Continue reading...

Former health secretary’s intervention comes as government closes consultation on age limits for social media platformsSocial media companies should be treated like the tobacco industry, Wes Streeting has argued, as he called for a ban on under-16s accessing certain platforms.Speaking publicly about the prospect of a ban for the first time since he left government, the former health secretary said one was needed because large technology companies were trying to dodge regulations. Continue reading...

Campaigners warn against blanket restrictions and say focus should be on blocking teenagers from platforms with ‘risky’ featuresOnline safety campaigners have urged Keir Starmer to block under-16s from accessing social media apps that do not meet strict safety standards, instead of implementing a broader Australia-style ban.The NSPCC, Molly Rose Foundation and Smartphone Free Childhood said tech platforms should not be allowed to offer “risky” features to teenagers such as infinite scrolling, disappearing messages and push notifications. Continue reading...

Half of the teens who have been blocked say they are seeing less news than before – but they are not necessarily going back to traditional sourcesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s social media ban is preventing teens from accessing news, a new study has found, with half of the teens who have been blocked saying they’re seeing less news than before.Two-thirds of under-16s have remained on social media platforms since the ban came into effect in December. But for those who were kicked off, the change has meant seeing less news than before the ban. Continue reading...

Bamber, 65, has long used press interviews to campaign against convictions for murder of five family membersJeremy Bamber, who has served more than 40 years in prison for murdering five members of his family, has been banned from communicating with the media.Bamber was convicted in 1986 by a 10-2 majority of shooting his adoptive mother and father, his sister and her six-year-old twins at the parents’ family farmhouse in Essex a year earlier. He has always protested his innocence. Continue reading...