Minister’s ‘anger’ at tech companies – as bosses could face prison if kids see harmful content
Social media companies must face tough sanctions if they fail to keep children safe from harmful content, the technology secretary has said.
Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Peter Kyle said age verification for adult material would have to be “watertight”, and that apps which do not protect children will face heavy fines and even jail time for company bosses.
He was talking ahead of new requirements, to be announced by the regulator Ofcom in mid-January, for platforms to protect children from a wide range of harmful content including bullying, violence, and dangerous stunts.
Apps for adults only will also be required to introduce tighter age verification, via a credit card or ID.
Mr Kyle said: “If they allow the children who are under the age that is appropriate, to view content, then they can face heavy fines and, in some circumstances, they’ll face prison sentences.
“This is the kind of direction of travel you’re going to have with me because I want to make sure kids are kept safe. These are not rules and powers that I’m bringing in just to sit on a shelf.
“These are powers that we’re bringing in for a purpose. At the moment, I accept that parents don’t believe that their kids are safe online because too often they’re not.”
‘Not enough research’
Mr Kyle said he was “in admiration of what these companies have created” and that lots of organisations, including the government, could learn from the tech sector.
But he added: “I do have a real deep frustration and yes, that could be called anger when it comes to the fact that not enough research has been produced about the impact their products have.
“If I was producing a product that was going to be used ubiquitously throughout society that I knew that children as young as five are going to be accessing it, I would want to be pretty certain that it’s not having a negative impact on young people.”
Peter Kyle said age verification for adult material would have to be ‘watertight’
The Online Safety Act was passed in October 2023 and is being implemented in stages. It will allow companies to be fined up to £18m, or 10% of turnover as well as criminal charges.
In December, the regulator Ofcom set out which content is illegal – including sexual exploitation, fraud and drug and weapons offences.
Could UK follow Australia?
The Australian government has announced it will ban under-16s from most social media altogether, which some campaigners are calling for the UK to follow.
Mr Kyle said he has no plans for one at this stage, as he met a group of teenagers from across the country at the NSPCC children’s charity to talk about their experiences online.
Some mentioned the “addictiveness” of social media, and coming across “distressing” content. But all were against a ban, highlighting the positives for learning, and of online communities.
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The UK chief medical officers reviewed the evidence on harm to children from “screen-based activities” – including social media and gaming – in 2019.
Their report found associations with anxiety and depression, but not enough evidence to prove a causal link. It backed a minimum age of 13 for using these apps.
But the technology secretary has commissioned more research to look at the issue again by next summer, as countries including France and Norway have raised the minimum age to 14 or 15.
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More social media restrictions for under-16s?
Children ‘getting dopamine hits’
Ofcom research last year found nearly a quarter of five-to-seven-year-olds have their own smartphone, with two in five using messaging services such as WhatsApp despite it having a minimum age of 13.
By the time they are 11, more than 90 percent of children have a smartphone.
Lee Fernandes, a psychotherapist specialising in addiction, told Sky News at his London clinic that he has been increasingly treating screen addiction in young adults, some of whose problems began in their teenage years.
“In the last five years, I’ve seen a big increase in addictions relating to technology,” he said.
“I think everyone just thinks it’s mindless scrolling, but we’re habituating children’s minds to be stimulated from using these phones and they’re getting these hits of dopamine, these rewards.”
Social media companies privately say teenagers use over 50 apps a week and argue that app stores should develop a “one-stop shop” rather than ID checks for each individual app.
Some platforms already require teenagers to prove their age through a video selfie or ID check if they attempt to change their age to over-18.
There are also AI models being developed to detect under-18s pretending to be adults. Specific teen accounts by providers including Meta restrict certain messages and content.
UK
Church ‘needs to be changed’, Archbishop of York to say in Christmas Day sermon after sex scandals
The Church of England needs to “kneel in penitence” and “be changed”, the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell is expected to say in his Christmas Day sermon.
It comes at a challenging time for the Church which has faced criticism over how it handled a number of abuse scandals.
Mr Cottrell will next month effectively become the Church’s temporary leader in place of the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
Mr Welby announced his resignation in November and will step down on 6 January after a report found prolific serial abuser John Smyth may have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported him to police in 2013.
But Mr Cottrell has himself also faced calls to quit after revelations David Tudor, a priest at the centre of a sexual abuse case, was twice reappointed under him while he was serving as bishop of Chelmsford.
With Mr Welby not giving the 25 December sermon, the focus has moved to what Mr Cottrell will say at York Minster.
He is expected to say the Church must “kneel in penitence and adoration” this Christmas and “be changed”.
He will say about Jesus: “At the centre of the Christmas story is a vulnerable child; a vulnerable child that Herod’s furious wrath will try and destroy, for like every tyrant he cannot abide a rival.
“The Church of England – the Church of England I love and serve – needs to look at this vulnerable child, at this emptying out of power to demonstrate the power of love, for in this vulnerable child we see God.
“If you’re in love, show me. If you have love in your hearts, embody and demonstrate that love by what you do.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Pic: PA
‘Put the needs of others first’
The archbishop will add: “This is what we learn at the manger. Put the needs of others first – those who are cold and hungry and homeless this Christmas.
“Those who are victims of abuse and exploitation. Those who, like the little holy family, have to flee oppression and seek refuge in a foreign land.”
Read more:
Church of England rules ‘not fit for purpose’
Archbishop ‘sorry’ for hurt caused by final speech
With regards to the Tudor case, Mr Cottrell has acknowledged things “could have been handled differently, and regrets that it wasn’t”.
But Tudor’s victims have branded Mr Cottrell’s response to the case “insulting and upsetting”. They have suggested it’s “inevitable” that he resigns or is forced out of his role.
Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley questioned how Mr Cottrell could have any credibility, and Bishop of Gloucester Rachel Treweek declined to publicly back him.
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin, is giving the sermon at Canterbury Cathedral in place of Mr Welby and will speak of the birth of Jesus as a triumph of “light and hope” over “fear and darkness”.
UK
A&E departments ‘absolutely full to bursting’ with flu blamed for making ‘bad situation even worse’, top medic says
Around half of accident and emergency departments, polled by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), have said they are “full to bursting” this Christmas.
The vice-president of the RCEM, Dr Ian Higginson, told Sky News’ Gareth Barlow on Christmas Eve that the situation for the NHS in the UK is “pretty grim” at the moment.
The group, representing emergency doctors, put a call out to senior managers on Friday night. Dr Higginson said half responded and “all but two of them said that the emergency departments were absolutely full to bursting”.
“Normally just before Christmas, we’d expect a bit of a lull. So I’m afraid things are looking pretty difficult out there for our patients and for our staff,” he added.
Dr Ian Higginson told Sky News A&E departments are ‘absolutely full to bursting’
The NHS has warned that hospitals are under severe pressure because of winter flu cases and a so-called “quad-demic”, combining respiratory infections with norovirus.
Commenting on the challenges facing the NHS, Dr Higginson said: “We simply don’t have enough beds in our hospitals for patients who are admitted as emergencies.
“We don’t have enough staff for those beds and we don’t have any headroom at all. So if something like flu hits as it has done, it makes a bad situation even worse.”
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Hospitals are being flooded by winter flu cases
England ‘about 10,000 beds short’
Dr Higginson added he believes the answer is “strategic solutions and strategic investment”.
He said: “In England alone, we reckon we’re about 10,000 beds short in our hospitals to deal with the predictable, urgent and emergency care… the equivalent of approximately two wards in every hospital.”
Recently the RCEM also attacked the “nonsensical” guidance on how to treat patients in corridors – describing it as “out of touch” and “normalising the dangerous”.
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Dr Higginson said recent pressures mean “we’ve got patients all the way through our corridors because we can’t admit them to hospital when they need to”.
He added: “It may be that their ambulance is outside in car parks because those patients can’t get into our emergency departments.”
And he argued that social care is “in a really difficult place at the moment” – needing investment to prevent older patients from remaining in hospital longer than they need to.
“When they’re ready to leave hospital, they get stuck in hospital, and that contributes to that shortage of beds even more,” he said.
Since its election victory in July, the Labour government has acknowledged the NHS needs investment with the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying it is “broken”.
In October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £22.6bn increase in day-to-day spending on the NHS in her budget.
Commenting on rising pressures within the NHS, Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We inherited an NHS that is broken but not beaten, and staff are already working hard to tackle an increase in admissions this winter.”
“For too long, an annual winter crisis has become the norm. We will deliver long-term reforms through our 10-year health plan that will create a health service that will be there for all of us all year round,” he added.
The UK’s oldest man has celebrated his 110th birthday with a special performance from opera singer Alfie Boe at his care home in Derbyshire.
A party was laid on for Donald Rose – who’s now ranked as a ‘supercentenarian’.
Mr Boe joined the bash in Ilkeston by video call and sang happy birthday, adding it was “a pleasure” to perform for him.
Mr Rose, who served in the Second World War with the Queen’s Royal Regiment, said: “Today is the best day I’ve ever had.”
Alfie Boe sang happy birthday via video call
Canal Vue Care Home announced his birthday with a post on Facebook: “Today we’re celebrating a remarkable milestone. Our beloved Donald is turning 110 years young!”
Activity coordinator Naomi Allsop also shared a touching tribute on Facebook: “Happy 110th birthday to my amazing best friend, the UK’s oldest man and a remarkable WWII and D-Day veteran!
“We’ve shared so many incredible experiences together, and there’s still so much more to come!”
“Donald is a lovely character – and a true national treasure,” said the Mayor of Erewash, Councillor Kate Fennelly, who also paid him a visit.
Mr Rose, who was born in 1914 in Westcott, Surrey, also received a card from The King and Queen, which he proudly showed off.
Other performances at the care home included Kate from D-Day Darlings, an all-female singing group who reached the finals of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.
She sang Dame Vera Lynn’s The White Cliffs of Dover and We’ll Meet Again.
Mr Rose, a Second World War veteran, also received a military visit
On 5 December, the war hero was among 200 veterans and their guests to attend a Christmas reception at St James’s Palace, hosted by the Duke of Gloucester.
The event was organised by The Not Forgotten veterans’ charity, which aims to combat isolation and loneliness in the armed forces and those who have served through social activities and holidays.
Mr Rose served as a sniper and Desert Rat in North Africa in the Second World War, according to The Gerontology Research Group, and was part of the liberation of Italy and France.
He earned a number of medals during his service including the Legion D’Honneur – France’s highest honour.
After working various jobs as a labourer, lorry driver and bin man he moved to Derbyshire in 2000 following the death of his wife, and at the age of 106 moved into his care home in Ilkeston.
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On 25 November, following the death of 112-year-old John Tinniswood, he became the oldest known living man in the UK.
The world’s oldest living person is Japan’s 116-year-old Tomiko Itooka.
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