Social Media Ban for Under-16s

Debate between Baroness Lloyd of Effra and Lord Russell of Liverpool

Tuesday 16th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The newly appointed chair of Ofcom has highlighted the importance to him of ensuring that Ofcom has the right capabilities in place. In writing to Ofcom to ask about capabilities and ensuring that there will be sufficient funding, we have emphasised how important that is to us. I will come back to my noble friend on the precise timing of some of these products. In general, the letters we exchange with Ofcom are made public but, if she does not mind, I will come back on her specific three questions.

[Lord Russell of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, earlier today, I had the enormous privilege to co-host with the noble Baroness, Lady Berger, who I suspect will try to ask the question after me, a group of the bereaved parents. Four of them spoke very bravely in person. Behind them were arrayed the photographs of even more children who lost their lives. They spoke very movingly. They said that while they absolutely welcomed the Government’s announcement yesterday, for them, that was the end of a long process of trying to get government to listen, but it is, at the same time, a beginning, because there is an awful lot more to do. If the Minister has not had the chance to read it, a very well-known bereaved parent, Ian Russell, wrote a very sensible piece in today’s Guardian about safety by design and how completely and utterly fundamental that is if we are going to get this right.

My question to the Minister goes back to enforcement. I know these large companies; they were clients when I was a headhunter. I know how well funded they are. We put in a lot of their top lawyers. They are very smart and have very deep pockets. The only way that we will be able to enforce is by joining with other jurisdictions, most obviously the European Union, to create a large enough economic bloc of customers and users of these technology companies—despite whatever the slightly incontinent current President or any of his minions may say—and by working together in a united way to make the companies realise that there is no “get out of jail free” clause. They have to be held to account, and they will be, but we can only do that together.

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The noble Lord—who has been a consistent advocate of ensuring that our children are safe online throughout the many months that I have been here, and he has played a very important role in doing so—is right that enforcement is absolutely key. He is also right to highlight that many other jurisdictions are looking at this and moving in this way. That will all be part of setting the new social norm and ensuring that not just this generation but the next generation grows up in a world in which social media operate very differently.

TikTok: Bereaved British Parents

Debate between Baroness Lloyd of Effra and Lord Russell of Liverpool

Tuesday 27th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

Yes, we are aware of those calls and those measures that have been put forward. We are working closely with Ofcom and the Chief Coroner’s office to understand how those would work. We are closely monitoring this and actively considering options to strengthen the process.

[Lord Russell of Liverpool (CB)]

Will the Minister please draw to the attention of her right honourable friend the Secretary of State the following facts about TikTok? In June 2025, TikTok announced that it would expand its investment and presence in the UK, proudly declaring:

“What underpins our continued growth is our deep commitment to safety”.


Two months later, in August, TikTok announced that it was going to fire almost all its content moderation team in the United Kingdom. One of those moderators said that, as part of their daily job, they were told to scrutinise 1,200 videos every working day. Does that give us confidence that TikTok is a company that can be trusted?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

All services operating in the United Kingdom must comply with the Online Safety Act. Ofcom is the regulator of online services and, when services fail to comply with the duties under the Act, it has enforcement powers to take action against them. We have made it very clear that Parliament has given those powers to Ofcom and the Government are backing Ofcom to use the measures in its remit to scrutinise the operation of services operating in the UK to provide the right environment for children and all users of social media here.