The House | As an MP who grew up with social media, I worry about rushing to an under-16 ban

3 min read28 January

I regularly speak to parents in my constituency about the threats to children and young people online. They’re right to call for urgent action, and it’s been heartening to see a consensus building to do more. The question is: what is the best way to protect young people online?

I’m one of the few MPs who grew up with social media, and I know from my experience that there is a problem. So, I’m sympathetic to the aims of a social media ban for under-16s, but worry that we risk letting young people and parents down if we rush towards a simple solution to a complex problem.

It’s unsurprising that a social media ban is attractive to legislators. I was struck by the frustration in a recent House of Lords debate on this issue and the belief some expressed that social media companies are finding ways to wriggle off the hook.

But this is not as straightforward as we might like. Some children’s charities have highlighted that young people will find a way online, driven instead to poorly regulated alternatives where it’s easier for the very threats we seek to protect them from to reach them. We risk creating a false sense of security for parents and legislators while leaving young people less likely to speak up and reach out for help, as the NSPCC has warned.

And banning social media is not the same as banning smoking. Many young people use social media to build genuinely beneficial support networks, particularly those with a mental health condition, neurodivergence, or who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, often stuck on waiting lists for traditional support. Could a blanket ban not risk ripping these supportive connections away, leaving the most marginalised more isolated?

I’ve been focussed on young people’s mental health since I entered Parliament, and I recognise the evidence on the impact of social media on their wellbeing is compelling. However, there is a lack of consensus on whether a blanket ban will solve this problem. Australia’s ban, from which many draw inspiration, was implemented only in December, and we need time to understand its impact.

I welcome the government’s decision to launch a consultation. It’s essential that this shapes our policy — not the other way around — and has young people’s voices at its heart. Too often, young people feel that politics is something that’s done to them, not with them. If we fail to bring them with us, any resulting policy will lack credibility.

Young people are live to the dangers of social media, and they want to engage with us, as I found when I visited a secondary school in my constituency. The students I spoke to understood the intentions behind a ban, but were worried that it would fail to address the root of the problem: harmful content and addictive algorithms.

They felt that the emphasis should be on better enforcing existing restrictions, including the digital age of consent, considering digital curfews, and taking the fight to the social media companies, requiring them to cleanse the online space and design more responsible platforms.

Most legislators have lived in a world both with and without social media, so naturally, a blanket ban appears to be a clear-cut solution. But this generation of young people has grown up with their lives intertwined with the online world; for them, it’s not so simple.

We have a historic opportunity to improve their relationship with social media; we need a more sophisticated approach than ‘turning it off and on again’. We must learn from their experience and take the time to get this right.

Josh Dean is the Labour MP for Hertford and Stortford