National Council of Women GB has been supporting Lord Nash’s crossbench amendment to protect children from harmful social media. Parliament will be voting again, probably on 15th April and we sincerely hope they will incorporate such an amendment into the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
There is plenty of evidence of harm happening now – see the excellent work of our Associate member Health Professionals for Safer Screens. The delay caused by a consultation is unnecessary. We endorse a statement of principles to protect children online and have successfully encouraged other women’s organisations to do the same.
Joint Statement of Principles for Protection of Children online with Signatories
The tech companies must demonstrate platform “safety by design” and accountability and, if that is not delivered, then unsafe platforms should not be able to access children.