Social Media Ban Is the Wrong Tool to Protect Kids Online

 

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Reacting to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement that the UK Government will work to enact a ban on social media access for children and teens under 16-years old, Stephen Tulip, UK Country Manager for the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) said:

‘The UK should avoid creating a regulatory framework that only the largest technology companies can afford to navigate. Measures that require extensive collection of personal data or impose disproportionate compliance costs risk undermining privacy, competition, and innovation.’

‘Startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), like ACT’s members, rely on consumer trust to build their successful companies. For a small business, strong privacy and security measures are paramount in building and maintaining that trust and so making sure children and teens are safe when using any online products or services is top of mind.

‘But a blanket ban is a blunt instrument that has been proven time and again to be:

  • Easy to bypass
  • Disproportionately burdensome for startups and SMEs, and
  • Ineffective at addressing the root cause of the identified risk

‘As the UK Government considers efforts to protect children online, any new policies must be effective, proportionate, and privacy-preserving. We need a policy framework that builds trust, promotes healthier spaces for kids to interact with technology, and provides true accountability for the companies that are profiting from putting children and teens at risk.’

‘The challenge for policymakers is to tackle genuine online harms while preserving the conditions that allow innovative startups and SMEs to grow, compete, and deliver new products and services for consumers. ACT and our members are ready to support policymakers to find that right balance. A blanket ban is not the answer.’

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