‘Get children off these addictive apps and into books, playing sport, chatting and enjoying themselves’
Tonia Antoniazzi is Labour MP for Gower
More than 500 constituents have contacted me this week alone, urging the UK Government to introduce a minimum social media age of 16. The strength and volume of these messages show just how deeply this issue matters to families in our community.
And I totally agree with them – get children off these addictive apps and into books, playing sport, chatting and enjoying themselves.
According to a survey for the children’s commissioner for Wales, one in five kids spends at least seven hours a day on screens. It’s crazy really that we’re allowing social media platforms to have so much influence over our children’s impressionable minds.
That’s why I have co-signed a letter to the Prime Minister along with 61 Labour MPs asking for the Government to implement an Australia-style social media ban. One that places the onus on technology companies, not parents, to prevent under-16s from creating social media accounts.
It’s a particularly relevant topic this week, as members of the House of Lords are also set to vote on it. On Wednesday, peers will consider an amendment to the Children, Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
As a mum, teacher and an MP I have witnessed the harmful impact of social media on children. The algorithms keep them endlessly scrolling, and it is shaping what they see, believe and even who they think they should be.
As a mum, I saw how misinformation on Facebook during the Covid years caused my then teenage son a lot of unnecessary worry and stress. He’d ask me to remove the upsetting posts appearing on his timeline, but at the time I didn’t even know how to do that. I imagine many parents have felt the same – wanting to help, but unsure where to start because we don’t fully understand how these platforms work.
As a teacher in a state secondary school, one of the biggest challenges we faced with social media was how easily it enabled cyberbullying. I remember pupils receiving abusive snaps late at night, leaving them feeling upset, isolated, and vulnerable.
In the classroom, a lot of energy was spent dealing with the fallout of online arguments often leading to the parents getting involved.
Fortunately, the school I worked for has now implemented a phone ban during the school day. My old colleagues love it. They say they’re able to teach again and that the students are much more focused in lessons. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
As an MP, I see the darkest side of social media especially in my work campaigning against violence against women and girls (VAWG) and as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sexual Exploitation.
No one wants their children to view pornography, but social media makes it possible for them to access it. This porn goes on to influence their sexual relationships. For example, nearly half of sexually active young people say they’ve experienced non-lethal strangulation after seeing choking normalised in online porn videos.
No parent wants their child sharing intimate photos of themselves, yet this is something that happens far too often on social media – with sometimes devastating consequences. In the worst cases, teenagers can become victims of sextortion.
At the same time, platforms are awash with material that glamorises prostitution as a viable and lucrative career. The apps present exploitation as empowerment, shaping young people’s perceptions long before they have the maturity to understand they’re being taken advantage of.
My wider experience of social media as an MP is that it can be brilliant at times and pretty awful at others. What really stands out to me is how it seems to chip away at people’s ability to think things through calmly. It ramps up anger, spreads negativity, and as an MP I’m seeing that more and more. Whatever happened to the old rule: if you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face, don’t post it online?
Teenagers’ political opinions are increasingly shaped by what they see on social media. Because these platforms prioritise engagement above all else, their algorithms often push more extreme content – both left and right – to keep people clicking, reacting, and staying online.
For years, algorithms have filled our timelines with content based on what we search for or interact with. As a result, many people end up stuck in echo chambers. Social media platforms track most of our online activity unless we’re especially careful about managing cookies – and let’s be honest, most of us simply click ‘accept’ so the popup disappears and we can get on with what we were doing.
As the emails in my inbox can testify, public support for a ban on social media use before the age of 16 is strong. The Prime Minister has also acknowledged that more must be done to keep children safe online, saying that all options are on the table. I will continue to campaign for legislation that protects young people from harmful content.
This isn’t about taking something away from them – it’s about giving something back. That is, giving children the space and the skills to grow into creative, active, resilient individuals – big thinkers with exciting futures ahead of them.
