Digital Safety: Children

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Kanishka Narayan]

The existing legislation provides for significant fines. More than 100 investigations have been conducted, and millions of pounds of fines have been levied on companies for inaction, too. Under any prospective new regime, I will make sure that the enforcement levers are as robust as they can be. The clear lesson from elsewhere is that compliance is critical to reshaping norms, and I want the companies and the bosses to feel the weight of that.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

I thank the parents, teachers and young people in Dartford who came together with me at the end of last month to discuss how to take action against what social media companies are engaged in, which has been described as the great rewiring of our childhood. I was pleased to be able to provide a report to the Minister’s Department after that engagement. There was near consensus that we want to see age restriction on social media access, a digital age of consent on data access and more guidance for parents and families from trusted sources. Does the Minister agree that it is vital that we take steps in all those areas, as well as the welcome announcement today on smartphones?

[Kanishka Narayan]

I thank my hon. Friend for the engagement he has done and for sharing the lessons from it across the three areas that he talks about: age restrictions, the ability to wield appropriate consent, and guidance for parents. The central theme is that parents and young people feel a loss of agency, and that is exactly the fundamental focus that this Government have: to restore the agency of people over platforms.