Written statement: Growing up in the online world: a national consultation - Mar 2

Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Liz Kendall): Today, we are publishing a landmark consultation on how to give young people the childhood they deserve in an online world. We want every child to enjoy a childhood filled with love, learning and play - one that is just as safe and enriching online as it is offline. To this end the government is seeking views on a range of measures on how to better protect children and prepare them for the future in an age of digital technologies and rapid technological change.

We know that millions of families across the country are grappling with how much screen time children should have, when children should get a smartphone, what they can see online, and the impact online use can have on sleep, concentration and mental health. Many feel they are fighting a losing battle against platforms designed to keep children scrolling. Additionally, we know many parents, carers and those that work with children have growing worries about AI, including children forming relationships with chatbots as if they were real people.

This is why many across the UK are calling for there to be a minimum age of access to social media. At the same time, we recognise that many others, including leading children's charities, warn that a blanket ban could push children towards less regulated parts of the internet or leave teenagers unprepared for the online world they will inevitably enter when they get older. This is exactly why we want to seek views across a range of measures. These cover establishing a minimum age of access to social media, but go further to consider ways we can better protect children from AI chatbots and potential restrictions on addictive and risky functionalities across a wide range of services, including messaging and gaming.

The Online Safety Act, one of the most robust systems globally, brought in strong protections to tackle illegal content and protect children from harmful and age-inappropriate content. However, there is growing agreement more needs to be done to keep children safe online.

Policy making must consider a range of views and be rooted in the best available evidence. The consultation seeks views on further measures to improve children's relationship with the online world. The consultation will gather insights from the public, parents, carers, young people, civil society and tech companies on how to keep children safe online, including across social media, gaming platforms and AI-chatbots.

Responses will help shape decisions on:

• Whether there should be a minimum age for social media, and if so, what age would be right;
• Whether platforms should be required to switch off addictive features that keep children hooked late into the night - like infinite scrolling and autoplay;
• Whether mandatory overnight curfews would help children sleep better and what age they should apply to;
• Whether children should be able to use AI chatbots without restriction;
• How age-verification and age-assurance technologies can support effective implementation;
• Whether the use of mobile phones in schools guidance should be put on a statutory footing and;
• How we can further support parents, carers and those that work with children in screentime and media literacy.

The consultation will run for three months, and the government will explain our proposed next steps by the Summer. We are also tabling amendments to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill to put in place powers to enable to us to act swiftly on the consultation findings, without prejudging its outcomes. They will enable us to make regulations based on the response to the consultation, including restricting or banning children of certain ages from accessing social media; limiting access to specific features that are harmful or addictive; raising the age of digital consent; and, age-restricting or limiting children's use of VPNs. This means that we will be able to act quickly to take evidence-based measures that will protect children, rather than waiting years for new primary legislation.

The government is clear that it is the responsibility of industry, not parents, to make online services safe for children by default. But public views are essential to getting the next steps right.

We urge views from all groups with an interest in this matter and hope to hear from parents, children's organisations, bereaved families, industry and from children themselves. Alongside the formal consultation we are also launching today a child and parent-friendly version of the consultation to ensure these important voices in this debate are properly heard.

Alongside the formal consultation, the government is launching one of its most wide-ranging national conversations in recent years. Over the coming months, families, young people, and communities from all over the UK will be invited to share their views through community events, MP-led local conversations, and engagement through schools and civil society organisations. We will also work closely with researchers and academics to assess the developing evidence base, as well as learning from international experiences, including Australia.

In addition, we will work with parents to run live pilots with teenagers to test a range of different interventions aimed at 13-17-year-olds. These will include social media bans, overnight curfews, and daily screentime limits in practice and will help us to ensure we make decisions that are grounded in real-world evidence as well as public views.

We can, and will, act to give children the safe, online childhood they deserve.