Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Baroness Harding of Winscombe Excerpts

Wednesday 21st January 2026 Lords Chamber

Australia’s e-safety commissioner has appointed an advisory group of 11 distinguished experts—led by Stanford University’s Social Media Lab, and including from this country Professor Orben from Cambridge University and Professor Etchells from Bath Spa University —to provide a robust and transparent evaluation of the outcomes of the social media ban in Australia for under-16s. In her reply, will the Minister undertake to report back, within 12 months of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill being passed, with an expert analysis of the impact of the Australian ban on key mental health statistics? I do not believe that we should introduce a ban in this country without some impartial analysis of the data being collected in Australia, even if it is preliminary. Amendment 94A makes no provision for analysis within 12 months of the most relevant evidence that we will have, and I therefore cannot support it.

[Baroness Harding of Winscombe (Con)]

My Lords, I will also endeavour to be brief. Like many who have spoken already, I spent a very large amount of time on the Online Safety Act. I agree entirely with the comments of the noble Lords, Lord Knight and Lord Russell, and the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron. This is a cry of pain and anger from this House that I hope the Minister is hearing, but I do not think that banning social media for under-16s is the right thing to do. I will add two reasons that have not been discussed so far.

First, I worry that absolutely nothing will change by implementing a ban. We already have a minimum age of 13; go into any primary school and you will find how effective that is. I urge the Minister to tell us how she is going to implement the minimum age we already have. How is she going to stiffen Ofcom’s backbone to hold tech companies to account? Otherwise, we can legislate all we like, but it will not make any difference.

Secondly, I have huge respect for the eloquence with which my noble friend Lord Nash set out the horrors and harms that social media is undoubtedly doing, but there is one flaw in his argument. He quoted a lot of research that points to the harm that excessive use of social media does to children. A ban, however, is zero use. We must be very careful about that. Social media is part of the modern world; it brings good as well as ill, and to simply ban it is abdicating responsibility.

I worry hugely that we are letting the tech companies off the hook. We have to hold them to account to produce products that are age appropriate. We have done that with every other technology as it has grown up over the centuries, and we should not duck the issue now. That takes me to the right reverend Prelate’s point, which seems like quite a long time ago. I am in the same dilemma, because I am absolutely certain that change has to happen, that the Online Safety Act is not working as those of us who worked so hard on it envisaged, and that Ofcom is not delivering. I doubt that more consultation solves that problem. But I am worried about passing this baton back to our colleagues in the other place. I am worried because a ban on social media has a nice ring to it. I am worried when I hear Ian Russell say that we must not use our children as a political football. We must really work out what the right answer to this problem is.

I ask the Minister to listen to this emotional debate. Those of us who worked on the Online Safety Act can see that there are about hundredfold more people in this Chamber now than there were at any stage of the Online Safety Act. That shows how much we all care about it now—not just that everyone is waiting for a vote. I ask the Minister please to hear the concern, the fury and the need to act. But, my goodness, if we send this back to the other place, I hope it will not translate into a blanket ban on social media for under-16s but into proper action to make the internet a better place for our children.

[Lord Weir of Ballyholme (DUP)]

My Lords—