Minister: Bar children from social media

SOCIETY has a moral responsibility to protect young people online, according to the Culture Secretary.

Matt Hancock yesterday pledged to make the internet a ‘safer place’, saying that as a father of three small children he would use his role to ‘protect our young people’. But schools and parents must play their part, he warned.

He told an NSPCC conference: ‘I firmly believe that very young children don’t need to have access to social media at all. After all, they are children.

‘We have a moral responsibility to build an internet for the next generation that yes, is transformative, exciting and free, but also that protects those who use it.’

He added: ‘While it is up to individual schools to decide rather than Government, I admire the many head teachers who take a firm approach and do not allow mobiles to be used.’

A report released by the NSPCC has revealed the risks young people are exposed to online. It found that 15.5 per cent of young people aged between 11 and 18 have been asked for nude images or explicit messages.

One in ten girls under 13 had received a request for a sexual image.