Protection of Children (Digital Safety and Data Protection) Bill

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Friday 7th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Spencer]

I am going to resist the temptation to be drawn into a discussion about research methodology in this area, although I have to tell the hon. Gentleman that I am very tempted to talk about the importance of case series data and qualitative data in terms of what people are telling us and what we are seeing ourselves, compared with cross-sectional or longitudinal studies or cluster studies looking at the impact of different schools. What I will say is that the stories of what children are being exposed to that we have heard in this debate and that we have all heard from our constituents are horrific—I do not think anyone would disagree with that. Clearly, we need to protect children from that.

At the heart of the Bill is the desire to drive forward our scientific understanding of the effects of smartphone and social media use on children’s mental health, learning and social development. I hope we hear a commitment from the Minister that the Government will conduct a detailed review in this complex area where so much is at stake, but I would also expand it further. Any analysis must take a clear-eyed approach to both the advantages and disadvantages offered by technological developments such as smartphones and internet access, looking at both the benefits to young people of increased connectivity and access to information, and even apps that help to manage health conditions such as diabetes at school and away from home, which will transform the lives of children and young people, and the increasing body of research that demonstrates the damaging effects of excessive smartphone and social media use on children and adolescents.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree with me on the importance of moving towards smartphone-free schools? I welcome the work being done at Monmouth comprehensive in my constituency, where the headteacher is pushing forward a smartphone ban, because grades increase by almost two levels where schools have banned mobile phones.

[Dr Spencer]

I will come on to that a little later in my speech. Perhaps Government Members will have the chance to express their view on this matter on Report of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill in a couple of weeks’ time.

Turning back to the research, a longitudinal study in the US of more than 6,500 children aged between 12 and 15, adjusted for baseline mental health status, found that adolescents who spent more than three hours a day on social media faced double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of depression and anxiety. These findings have been brought into sharp focus by recent tragic cases of children taking their own lives after being the subject of online bullying or encountering harmful material online. Clearly, that weighs on all of us as legislators.

In government and now in opposition, the Conservatives have pursued measures to make the online world a safer place for children and young people. I am proud that the previous Government passed the Online Safety Act, among other measures, to make the online world safer. The Act requires platforms to take measures to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content, particularly relating to pornography, suicide and self-harm, serious violence and bullying. The Act further requires platforms to remove illegal content quickly and prevent it from appearing in the first place, and to use and enforce age-checking measures on platforms where content harmful to children is published through the adoption of highly effective age assurance technologies. In January, Ofcom published industry guidance on how it expects age assurance to be put into effect, including deadlines for platforms to conduct risk assessments and put certain safety measures in place. We can expect to see further developments in this area as the protections envisaged by the OSA are rolled out.

However, parents, including many in my constituency, are rightly concerned about the addictive nature of smartphones themselves and the impact on attention span and social development. According to polling by Parentkind in 2024, 83% of parents felt that smartphones are harmful to children and young people, while research carried out by Policy Exchange across more than 200 schools at the end of 2023 found that schools with strict mobile phone bans achieved, on average, better Progress 8 scores and better GCSE grades, despite the fact that the schools with highly effective bans had a higher proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals than the schools with less restrictive policies.

In February, the shadow Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott), tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to require all schools in England to ban the use of mobile telephones during the school day. That, however, was rejected by the Government. I wonder how Labour Members feel about that. Should the Government decide to do so, perhaps further to the chief medical officers’ review, Opposition Members will work constructively with them to seek practical and effective solutions that enable children to continue to benefit from the opportunities offered online, while protecting them from those harmful effects.

--- Later in debate ---

[Freddie van Mierlo]

I happily join the hon. Gentleman in congratulating that school.

Unfortunately, what we have seen today is a tragedy of the Commons, with the weakening of this legislation. We could not, even in this Chamber, overcome the collective action problem to deliver tougher regulation—which we need to stop the misuse of technology and keep the next generation safe—rather than reviews and a promise to plan research. I am happy to see other Members contributing to the conversation, but I note that Reform Members, including the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), have decided not to grace us with their presence. If they cared so much about the protection of our children, they would be here.

In conversations with friends who have school-age children, I have learned of apps, such as Roblox, that allow any person to open a conversation with another user of the game. I also heard from campaigners that even Spotify can be used to share explicit images and conduct online grooming. I have spoken to parents in Henley and Thame who are distraught that their children were groomed by predators through social media. When they reported the crime to the police, they were told that nothing could be done because a virtual private network had been used. Technology is constantly evolving and we must stay informed of its developments. Parents must be informed of the risks facing children who use social media.

There is a way forward. We are all aware that social media companies are making huge profits from their activity. Introducing a social media levy to increase tax on those companies is an obvious choice. The money collected from the tax could then be used to support children by funding mental health services. Social media is having a detrimental impact on the wellbeing of children. The least we can do is use its profits to mitigate some of the damage.

The digital age of consent must be increased to 16. The age of 13 is too young for a child to consent to the collection, processing and storing of their data. The change would not ban children under 16 from using social media, but it would force social media companies to make applications safer and child-friendly for those under 16. My daughter is just 14 months old, but she is already being targeted by shows that seek to manipulate babies’ brains to avoid losing their attention. That shows just how pernicious the online space has become, and as a father I fear what it will look like in 10 years’ time. We must act.

[Catherine Fookes]

Thank you so much for giving way. Do you agree that, although this point has not come across in the debate, we all meet the most incredible young people every day in our constituencies, and we must congratulate them on the amazing things they do—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

Order. I remind hon. Members that interventions must be very short at this point, and please do not to refer to each other as “you”.