Meta, YouTube and Snapchat say ban, which would stop children using their platforms, will drive them to ‘less safe services’
UK parents: how do you feel about the ban?
Britain’s plans to ban social media for under-16s will push teenagers towards more harmful platforms, the world’s biggest technology companies have said as ministers push to enact the new restrictions by next spring.
Meta, YouTube andSnapchathave all criticised the ban, which was announced by Keir Starmer on Monday and would stop younger teenagers from using their services.
A spokesperson forMeta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said: “As we’ve seen in Australia, bans risk isolating teens from online communities and information, and driving them to unregulated alternatives that lack built-in protections and parental controls.”
YouTube said in a statement: “Blanket bans push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less-safe services.”
And Snapchat said: “Because the majority of time spent on Snapchat is in private messaging between friends and family, an outright ban that disconnects teens from those relationships doesn’t make them safer – it may simply push them to less safe platforms.”
Starmer announced the ban at a Downing Street press conference, despite having previously been sceptical about the idea. Allies say that if he is ousted as prime minister in the coming weeks this will form part of his political legacy.
He said: “Social media is making children unhappy, it’s making it easier for bullies to harass and abuse them, and it could even be harming their mental health.”
He argued the ban was not anti-tech. “I do not accept, and I will never accept, that you can’t be both pro tech and AI, and at the same time say we must protect our children.”
Source: Drudge Report
