Inside Sunak’s battle to force through ban on smartphones

Crackdown on child safety online seen by some as cynical election ploy,

Rishi Sunak’s iPhone buzzes in his pocket. Acting exasperated, the Prime Minister retrieves his handset for a third time, before continuing on his monologue justifying a smartphone ban in schools.

Sunak’s performance in the video promoting powers for headteachers to ban phones from classrooms left a lot to be desired – one social media post describing it as “GCSE drama”.

Undeterred, he is now preparing for the next act in his phones showdown.

Advisers in No10, under deputy chief of staff Will Tanner, and officials in Michelle Donelan’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have been scrambling to pull together new measures that will make it harder for teens to binge on smartphone content or access inappropriate posts on social media.

At the centrepiece of this crackdown are proposals to ban smartphones sales to under-16s in an effort to stop young children accessing social media.

Grassroots activists have cheered the plans. Arabella Skinner, director of the Safescreens Campaign, has called for “at a minimum, all sales, supply and marketing of unrestricted smartphones and applications [to] be prohibited until children reach the end of Key Stage 4”, when they are 16.

However, some within the technology and telecommunications sector see the crackdown as a cynical attempt to win votes. Talk of a ban is “pure electioneering” from a government with “less life left than an 18-year-old’s smartphone battery,” according to one executive.

The issue is enjoying a surge of popular support. Tens of thousands of parents have launched a viral crusade as part of the Smartphone Free Childhood movement. Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teen Brianna, has advocated passionately to ministers for further controls that would make it harder for young teenagers to access harmful websites and called for phones to be made “child safe”.

Politicians have latched on to a new book by US academic Jonathan Haidt,

The Anxious Generation, which blames a teen mental health crisis over the past decade on the rise of touchscreen phones and big tech, leaving children addicted to endless scrolling and trapped in rabbit holes of depressing content. Conservative MP Miriam Cates has led the charge in Parliament to get smartphones out of children’s hands. “No sane society can let this continue,” she said in January.

The Online Safety Act, the Tories’ flagship internet regulation, is only months old. However, officials have been seriously considering new measures that could appease parents and tighten the screws on technology companies that have failed to stop millions of children, even those as young as three, from using their apps.

The first step is expected to be a consultation that will ask parents, campaigners and industry to consider measures such as a ban on smartphone sales for under-16s and whether social media access should require parental permission. It will also ask whether younger teens should be able to access the apps at all.

Private talks and backchannel discussions have been under way with technology giants and industry experts to scope out what can be done.

Industry body TechUK, which includes Facebook, Apple and Samsung among its members, has been holding talks on a voluntary charter to address concerns.

While most companies have remained publicly silent, The

Telegraph understands government proposals have been met with resistance. More dramatic suggestions could be dropped or watered down.

A government spokesman said: “We do not comment on speculation. Our commitment to making the UK the safest place to be a child online is unwavering, as evidenced by our landmark Online Safety Act.” A source insisted the Government would not “shy away” from tackling big tech to protect children.

It is understood that the proposal to ban under-16s buying phones will be included in the final consultation, but sources argue it will have negligible impact. Most children get their first phone from parents and contracts cannot be taken out by under-18s.

A restriction would also frustrate the telecoms sector and phone makers, with insiders fearing they will face the cost of enforcing new rules that they see as addressing the failings of Facebook and Instagram.

The Government also wants to consult on the right age for when children should “access” social media. Right now, the minimum age for many social media apps is typically 13. .

Another option is introducing systems that would require parental approval for children to download social media apps. Arturo Bejar, a former Facebook executive, said that “does not address the fundamental issues” that there are self-harm posts, sexual content and stalkers online.

More eye-catching measures to address this issue have been put to industry but are expected to be dropped after blowback from US tech giants. One suggestion was that parents could get alerts if their child searches for dangerous or violent posts. There were fears such alerts could open an ethical minefield, even if technically feasible, such as who sets the alerts and whether it would infringe a child’s right to privacy.

More broadly, the Government plans to ask whether parental safety tools that already exist on phones and apps – which can be used to set screen time limits or block individual apps on children’s phones – could be made clearer. There are suggestions they could be standardised across different apps and devices. Surprisingly, some of the Government’s proposals have met with reticence from online safety activists, who fear the measures could miss the mark. The Molly Rose Foundation, the charity set up by Ian Russell, father of the teen who died after being exposed to self-harm on social media, has questioned whether the excessively intrusive measures could cause friction between parents and children. Andy Burrows, a spokesman for the charity, has called the proposals “bad and reactionary”.

Sir Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, wrote in The Times that blocking teens from the internet could lead to “increased secrecy”.

The Government’s sudden attack on phones comes mere months after the Online Safety Bill passed into law, giving Ofcom the power to levy billions of pounds in fines for failures by tech giants. Next month, Ofcom plans to launch its own children’s code of practice to ensure safer online experiences. Baroness Kidron, a vocal proponents of the Online Safety Act, says she is “absolutely with people who say children do not need smartphones in primary school”.

Recent figures from Ofcom have only added fuel to the fire. Survey data showed a quarter of three to four-yearolds now own their own smartphone, while 51pc of under-13s use some form of social media, suggesting whatever age checks are in place do not work.

Public opinion is fickle. A YouGov survey suggested people were broadly split when it came to banning under 16s from phones, with 36pc in favour and 38pc against. Ultimately, the outcome of the debate could be acted on by Labour, which has backed calls for action, rather than the Tories.

A Labour spokesman said: “The Government has delayed releasing any further details on social media or smartphone bans since last year. We will look at any proposals aimed at keeping children safe online.”

Whoever ends up in power, the mobiles backlash is going nowhere.

‘Parental approval does not address the issues of self-harm posts, sexual content and stalkers’

‘The Tories have delayed since last year. We will look at any proposals for keeping children safe online’