In a heartbreaking plea, Esther Ghey, the mother of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey who was brutally murdered by two other teenagers in 2023, has urged the Prime Minister and other party leaders to support a proposed ban on social media for under-16s.
Ghey believes such a ban would be “a vital step in protecting children online,” citing her daughter’s “social media addiction” and “desperate desire to be TikTok famous” as factors that put her “in constant fear about who Brianna might be speaking to online.” The tragic consequences included Brianna developing an eating disorder and self-harming, all of which were “significantly exacerbated by the harmful content she was consuming online.”
Ghey’s intervention comes as peers are expected to debate an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill this week that would require social media companies to stop children under 16 from using their platforms. The amendment has already secured the support of the National Education Union (NEU) and 61 Labour MPs, who have written to the Prime Minister calling for “urgent action.”
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede has described the amendment as a “pivotal moment” and urged Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to show “leadership” by coming out in support of the ban. However, when pressed on the issue at a press conference on Monday, Starmer would not commit to supporting the ban, saying the Government was “looking at a range of options” and that “no options are off the table.”
Starmer did reveal that he had discussed the policy with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whose government introduced a similar ban last year. Ghey said she was speaking “alongside many other bereaved parents who have lost their children to harms that began or were amplified online,” urging party leaders to support the ban and stating that “no parent should have to live with the consequences of a system that failed to protect their child.”
The proposed ban has faced some opposition, with 42 child protection charities and online safety groups issuing a joint statement warning that a blanket social media ban would not deliver the necessary improvements in child safety and wellbeing. Instead, they argue the Government should strengthen the Online Safety Act to require platforms to robustly enforce risk-based age limits.
Baroness Hilary Cass, a paediatrician in the House of Lords, said she understands the charities’ reasoning but feels it is better to “start on the presumption of a ban and only allow apps that have been developed safely and do not target children with harmful algorithms.” She believes otherwise, there would be a reliance “on the US big tech companies to comply with safety requirements, and so far that has just not been adequate.”
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have called for film-style age ratings for social media, with some platforms legally restricted to users over the age of 16. Party leader Sir Ed Davey said the proposal is “a smart approach that allows young people to benefit from the best of social media…while properly tackling the real harms it can cause.”
In response to the Liberal Democrats’ proposal, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government would “look carefully at any sensible proposals to make sure we can keep our children safe online.” She acknowledged the wider issues around behaviour affecting teachers’ experiences and some of the broader pressures, including around safeguarding.