Hancock wants under-13s to be banned from social media

A NEW law banning under-13s from social media has been proposed by Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary.

He said social media giants should be legally required to stop under-age children joining their sites, and accused the companies of doing “absolutely nothing” to stop under-13s getting on to sites like Facebook or under-16s using What’s App.

Asked if there should be a minimum and enforced legal age requirement in an interview in Parliament’s House magazine, he said: “Yes, yes there should. Absolutely.”

Ofcom estimates a quarter of eight to 11-year-olds have social media accounts, often gaining access by lying about their age. But Mr Hancock said: “The terms and conditions of the main social media sites are that you shouldn’t use it under the age of 13, but the companies do absolutely nothing to enforce against that. And they should, I think that should be a requirement.”

“You shouldn’t be on Whatsapp, according to their own terms and conditions, before you’re 16.

“And yet, the pressures that people feel under when they’re on a Whats -App group to respond, to wake up in the middle of the night to get back to messages – this is teenagers or young kids who aren’t even teenagers yet.”

He said a legal ban would be considered as part of the investigation by the chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies into ensuring “age-appropriate” use of social media. She is also reviewing the impact of social media on children’s mental health.

Mr Hancock suggested the companies may have contributed to a rise in self-harm recorded in teenage girls, but not teenage boys.

“That implies that something happened in the last decade to increase the pressure on teenage girls,” he said. “There is a problem in terms of the pressures being put on them and the consequences for their mental health.”