Social Media Ban for Under-16s

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Tuesday 16th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash (Con)]

My Lords, I express my gratitude to the Government, including our Minister, the Secretary of State for DSIT and Minister Narayan, for coming to the conclusions that they have as a result of the consultation. They have listened and are clearly determined to act effectively. I add my gratitude to the bereaved parents who have endured unimaginable pain to get to this point. I was grateful to the Minister for her time earlier today, when she met a number of noble Lords and said that she will share the draft regulations with interested noble Lords, in advance of them being published. I agree that a spirit of co-operation on this issue, which clearly has cross-party support, would be helpful. I would be grateful if she could confirm that at the Dispatch Box today.

In my conversations with the social media companies, they have all said that if there is a level playing field, they will accept the situation. The proof of that pudding will, of course, be in the eating, but I would be grateful if the Minister could confirm, either today or, more likely, in due course, that all apps which are user-to-user and have the ability to post content, and where algorithms are involved, will not only be in scope but will not be able to provide those services to under-16s—and, if not, that the criteria on which they will be exempted will be very clear and consistent, to minimise the risk of legal challenge.

On enforcement, I would hope that because the criteria the Government are talking about are very black and white, there should be minimum scope for delay in effecting enforcement. I would also be grateful if the Minister could confirm, I hope today, that geotagging and location sharing are within the concept of “communication with strangers”. But, given that apart from—

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

These should be short interjections with questions, not statements, if the noble Lord does not mind.

[Lord Nash (Con)]

But, given that apart from in relation to VPNs the Government have gone further than I was asking for, I commend their approach and particularly like its dynamic nature, which enables them, under the powers taken in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, to come forward with not just part 2 in July but parts 3 and 4, and so on, as technology moves on apace, so that we can play catch-up fast.