Baroness Cass

DSIT sought academic advice in designing the pilot study. The Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Dame Angela McLean, convened a roundtable of senior academics, alongside Chief Scientific Advisers from FCDO, DfE and College of Policing.

This advice included consideration of sample size. The pilots, by design, form a social research, qualitative study which is thorough, but not statistically representative. With 300 interviews with teenagers, and their parents, from varied perspectives, we aim to gather first-hand insights into their experience of social media.

DSIT worked closely with our delivery partner, Savanta, to design the study to established ethical standards, including securing informed consent from participants, the right of withdrawal, appropriate safeguarding arrangements, and data protection and confidentiality measures throughout.

DSIT sought academic advice in designing the pilot study. The Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Dame Angela McLean, convened a roundtable of senior academics, alongside Chief Scientific Advisers from FCDO, DfE and College of Policing.

This advice included consideration of sample size. The pilots, by design, form a social research, qualitative study which is thorough, but not statistically representative. With 300 interviews with teenagers, and their parents, from varied perspectives, we aim to gather first-hand insights into their experience of social media.

DSIT worked closely with our delivery partner, Savanta, to design the study to established ethical standards, including securing informed consent from participants, the right of withdrawal, appropriate safeguarding arrangements, and data protection and confidentiality measures throughout.

It is vital that any serious disclosures to the Growing Up in the Online World consultation are treated with care.

The provider of the children's survey has trained staff which routinely screen responses for safeguarding risks, including references to abuse, harm, or immediate danger. Where the provider of the children’s consultation receives an identifiable response from a child at risk of significant harm, this is referred to the relevant authority, including emergency services or local children’s social services if required, in accordance with statutory safeguarding responsibilities.

For anonymous disclosures, the incident is securely recorded and escalated to the organisation’s safeguarding lead. In line with NSPCC guidance, the safeguarding lead reviews the circumstances and may contact the NSPCC Helpline.

The government has announced a consultation and national conversation to gather evidence to understand how best we can build on the Online Safety Act’s provisions to ensure children have positive, enriched digital lives.

We will consult parents, the organisations representing children and bereaved parents, technology companies and, crucially, children and young people themselves, because their views and voices must be heard. We will make sure that the consultation is evidence-led, with input from independent experts.

We have launched a consultation exploring children’s use of technology. It seeks to understand how children can better be protected online, and how wellbeing can improve and enrich children’s lives. It will gather views on proposals including banning social media for under‑16s and restricting ‘addictive’ online features

The consultation is accessible for all – we hope to hear from parents, children’s organisations, bereaved families and industry - and from children themselves. We have also developed a child and parent-friendly version of the consultation and are progressing a national conversation where we will engage with these groups.

As I highlighted on 20 April, the UK are concerned by reports of continued violations by the military on civilians of Myanmar. The UK consistently uses its role as penholder at the UN Security Council (UNSC) to maintain a spotlight on Myanmar. On April 4, we led a joint UNSC press statement, reaffirming the importance of "the timely and effective delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to all those in need, without disruption or discrimination". This statement marked the first unified UNSC message since UNSC Resolution 2669. On 30 April, we convened a UNSC meeting to address human rights violations by the Myanmar military and the impact of the March earthquake. In 2024, we convened six UNSC meetings on Myanmar. The UK will continue to shine a spotlight on Myanmar, including through our leadership role at the UN Security Council.

We condemn the Myanmar military's continued use of airstrikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including healthcare facilities. We are particularly concerned by reports that the military has continued to attack healthcare facilities after the recent earthquake. Since the coup in 2021, the UK has announced ten sanctions specifically targeting the military's ability to procure aviation fuel.