Bereaved families and MPs call for tougher measures on mobile phones for under-16s
Bereaved families and MPs are urging the government to take tougher steps to protect younger teenagers from “horrific” content on social media.
The Australian government’s decision to legislate for a smartphone ban for under 16s has reignited the debate in the UK about further restrictions, and a Labour MP is hoping to get government support for curbs on social media.
Stuart Stephens is among those campaigning for the government to go further and spoke to Sky News.
Olly Stephens, 13, was murdered in 2021
Olly with his father Stuart
His son Olly was just 13 when he was murdered by other teenagers following a row which began on social media.
Mr Stephens said his son had been trying to stand up for another child who was a victim of “patterning” – humiliating someone and circulating it on video to blackmail them. Three 14-year-olds were jailed for Olly’s murder in 2021 – following an investigation involving 11 social media platforms.
“We are angry,” Mr Stephens said. “Without a doubt, without all that interaction he would still be here.
“There’s no accountability. These platforms are put out; kids use them, people get hurt, and we need to shine a light on that.
“I firmly believe that I lost my son because of weak governance and poor legislation, full stop, which is why we are doing what we are doing.
“I can’t show you any of the stuff that we saw on his phone, but it’s horrific. And a lot of that stuff you can’t unsee. And especially as a child, you’ve got a developing brain and you bombard them with horrific stuff that’s going to change them as an adult, and that’s not beneficial for society.”
Mr Stephens added: “You think this is never going to happen to you.
“He went into his world with the mobile phone. We need to bolster the legislation that’s already there, not weaken it.”
Olly’s parents Stuart and Amanda Stephens outside Reading Crown Court in September 2001. Pic: PA
Police searching an alleyway near to where Olly was killed in July 2001. Pic: PA
Mr Stephens supports a private members’ bill being drafted by Labour MP Josh MacAlister which would raise the age of internet “adulthood” in which a child can give data to social media apps from 13 to 16 – in order to stop them being bombarded with unsolicited content via algorithms.
This would go further than the measures in the Online Safety Act, passed a year ago, which the regulator Ofcom will be implementing in phases from next year.
Ministers have promised sanctions for tech companies who fail to clamp down on harmful material, such as violence, explicit material and disinformation, and do not implement rigorous age verification for their platforms.
The Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, is not minded to enact a full smartphone ban for under-16s but has said that nothing is “off the table”.
Labour MP Josh MacAlister is calling for a change in the law
Mr MacAlister, a former teacher and now MP for Whitehaven and Workington, believes parents need to be empowered to stop their children “doom-scrolling” on social media and is hoping to get government support.
The MP, who has held meetings with parents, health professionals and tech experts, told Sky News he was concerned by figures showing the average 12-year-old is spending 21 hours a week online.
“We’ve reached a point where this is a topic of discussion at almost every family dinner table in the country. Parents, teachers, children themselves recognise the scale of this problem,” Mr McAllister said.
“We’ve got the Online Safety Act here in the UK, which is a great landmark initial piece of legislation, focused on obviously harmful content – violent images, pornography, those sorts of things.
“But in places like Australia, states in the US and France, governments are saying actually there is a wider effect of addictive social media smartphones and that’s taking children away from other activities.
“My bill is about trying to put that debate here into parliament and to persuade the government to act, to do really one simple thing through a number of measures.
“That is to make the version of smartphones that children use under 16 different to those above 16 – safer, less addictive; kick children off of them after they’ve spent a fair bit of time on their mobile.
“I don’t think that this is an issue where the genie is out of the bottle. We can absolutely set some new rules around this.”
Read more:
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Susie Husemeyer is trying to restrict phone access to her daughter, Amelia, 12
Sky News spoke to parents who feel that even legal content is taking over their children’s lives. The group Smartphone Free Childhood, set up by parents, now has 150,000 members promoting the use of “brick” mobile phones without apps.
One of its members, Susie Husemeyer, is trying to restrict smartphone use for her daughter Amelia, who is 12 years old.
After giving her a smartphone in her last year of primary school and trying to impose a time limit, she had second thoughts and has now disabled the internet on the device.
Amelia said: “I have messages, music to listen to on the bus, and calls. There’s a lot of peer pressure that’s like, how come you don’t have WhatsApp? I get a lot of my friends saying, ‘Your parents are so boring. How come your parents don’t let you do this?'”
But while her friends are often glued to their phones, she supports her parents’ decision.
“It’s not good for your mental health, especially without any restrictions.
“Sometimes I think I wish I had WhatsApp, as people will have a birthday party and set up a group chat about it and I’ll be completely left out.
“But usually I don’t. It would be easier if everyone was banned.”
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Susie said: “There is no doubt about it, she is left out. I think that parents like me are just in such a hard place because we’re trying to do the right thing by our children.
“But at the same time, our children’s peers are all using phones that have all these things enabled. And these devices are just so addictive.
“My message to government would be we are in desperate need of preserving our children’s childhoods because childhood lasts a lifetime, a good childhood lasts a lifetime, and a distracted childhood lasts a lifetime too, in terms of how the brain develops.”
Some children’s charities say a total ban on smartphones or social media punishes teenagers and ignores the benefits of phones when used safely.
It was perhaps not quite how officials, in London at least, had envisaged the announcement of the state visit would be made.
In the Oval Office, Donald Trump revealed the news in his own way.
“I was invited by the King and the great country. They are going to do a second fest – that’s what it is. It is beautiful,” he said during an impromptu Oval Office moment.
The question was, did this “fest” – which Mr Trump suggested could happen in September – amount to the much hyped second state visit for the American president?
Or was this actually just the smaller visit that had been offered two months ago as an initial bilateral visit at which the state visit would be discussed?
Back in February, Sir Keir Starmer presented the president with a letter from King Charles and the offer of a state visit.
The letter proposed an initial meeting between the King and the president to discuss details of the state visit at either Dumfries House or Balmoral, both in Scotland, close to Mr Trump’s golf clubs.
The King wrote: “Quite apart from this presenting an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, it would also offer a valuable chance to plan a historic second state visit to the United Kingdom… As you will know this is unprecedented by a US president. That is why I would find it helpful for us to be able to discuss, together, a range of options for location and programme content.”
As he revealed the news of his “fest” with his “friend Charles”, Mr Trump said: “I think they are setting a date for September…”
Sources have since confirmed to Sky News that it will amount to the full state visit.
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Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump the invite earlier this year. Pic: Reuters
‘Even more important’
It’s possible the initial less formal presidential trip may still happen between now and September. Mr Trump is in Europe for the NATO summit in June and is due in Scotland to open a new golf course soon too.
“It is the second time it has happened to one person. The reason is we have two separate terms, and it’s an honour to be a friend of King Charles and the family, William,” the president said.
“I don’t know how it can be bigger than the last one. The last one was incredible, but they say the next one will be even more important.”
His last state visit in 2019, at the invitation of the late Queen, drew significant protests epitomised by the giant blow-up “Baby Trump” which floated over Parliament Square.
The president was hosted by the Queen in June 2019. Pic: Reuters
Britain’s trump card
September is a little earlier than had been expected for the visit. It may be an advantage for it to happen sooner rather than later, given the profoundly consequential and controversial nature of the first few months of his second term.
The decision by the British government to play its “state visit trump card” up front back in February drew some criticism.
And since February, Mr Trump’s position on numerous issues has been increasingly at odds with all of America’s allies.
On Ukraine, he has seemingly aligned himself closely with Vladimir Putin. His tariffs have caused a global economic shock. And on issues like Greenland and Canada, a member of the Commonwealth, he has generated significant diplomatic shock.
A risk worth taking
Mr Trump is as divisive among the British public as he is in America. Sir Keir is already walking a political tightrope by choosing the softly softly approach with the White House.
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The UK government chose not to retaliate against Mr Trump’s tariffs, unlike some allies. Sir Keir and his cabinet have been at pains not to be seen to criticise the president in any way as they seek to influence him on Ukraine and seek an elusive economic deal on tariffs.
On that tariff deal, despite some positive language from the US side and offers on the table, there has yet to be a breakthrough. A continuing challenge is engaging with the president for decisions and agreements only he, not his cabinet, will make.
British officials acknowledge the risk the state visit poses. In this presidency, anything could happen between now and September.
But they argue British soft power and Mr Trump’s fondness for the Royal Family and pomp – or a “fest” as he calls it – amount to vital diplomatic clout.
For a special relationship under strain, a special state visit is the tonic.
Politics
Laws may need to be bolstered to crack down on exploitation of child ‘influencers’, senior MP suggests
Laws may need to be strengthened to crack down on the exploitation of child “influencers”, a senior Labour MP has warned.
Chi Onwurah, chair of the science, technology and innovation committee, said parts of the Online Safety Act – passed in October 2023 – may already be “obsolete or inadequate”.
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Experts have raised concerns that there is a lack of provision in industry laws for children who earn money through brand collaborations on social media when compared to child actors and models.
This has led to some children advertising in their underwear on social media, one expert has claimed.
Those working in more traditional entertainment fields are safeguarded by performance laws, which strictly govern the hours a minor can work, the money they earn and who they are accompanied by.
The Child Influencer Project, which has curated the world’s first industry guidelines for the group, has warned of a “large gap in UK law” which is not sufficiently filled by new online safety legislation.
Official portrait of Chi Onwurah.
Pic: UK Parlimeant
The group’s research found that child influencers could be exposed to as many as 20 different risks of harm, including to dignity, identity, family life, education, and their health and safety.
Ms Onwurah told Sky News there needs to be a “much clearer understanding of the nature of child influencers ‘work’ and the legal and regulatory framework around it”.
She said: “The safety and welfare of children are at the heart of the Online Safety Act and rightly so.
“However, as we know in a number of areas the act may already be obsolete or inadequate due to the lack of foresight and rigour of the last government.”
Victoria Collins, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for science, innovation and technology, agreed that regulations “need to keep pace with the times”, with child influencers on social media “protected in the same way” as child actors or models.
“Liberal Democrats would welcome steps to strengthen the Online Safety Act on this front,” she added.
‘Something has to be done’
MPs warned in 2022 that the government should “urgently address the gap in UK child labour and performance regulation that is leaving child influencers without protection”.
They asked for new laws on working hours and conditions, a mandate for the protection of the child’s earnings, a right to erasure and to bring child labour arrangements under the oversight of local authorities.
However, Dr Francis Rees, the principal investigator for the Child Influencer Project, told Sky News that even after the implementation of the Online Safety Act, “there’s still a lot wanting”.
“Something has to be done to make brands more aware of their own duty of care towards kids in this arena,” she said.
Dr Rees added that achieving performances from children on social media “can involve extremely coercive and disruptive practices”.
“We simply have to do more to protect these children who have very little say or understanding of what is really happening. Most are left without a voice and without a choice.”
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The researcher pointed to one particular instance, in which children were advertising an underwear brand on social media.
She said: “The kids in the company’s own marketing material or their own media campaigns are either pulling up the band of the underwear underneath their clothing, or they’re holding the underwear up while they’re fully clothed.
“But whenever you look at any of the sponsored content produced by families with children – mum, dad, and child are in their underwear.”
Dr Rees said it is “night and day” in terms of how companies are behaving when they have responsibility for the material, versus “the lack of responsibility once they hand it over to parents with kids”.
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