UK: House of Lords votes for social media ban
The upper house of the British Parliament has voted to introduce a social media ban for children and teens under the age of 16, following Australia's example. The vote was initiated by Conservative member of the House of Lords John Nash, who stressed that "the future of children must come first", and will increase the pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to enact a social media ban. The British press takes stock.
Most disadvantaged further disadvantaged
The Independent warns of the ban's potential social consequences:
“The sprawling and multifaceted nature of the Internet and social media, particularly, has given many teens who exist outside rigid and often cruel social lines not just a lifeline, but entire parasocial structures that welcomed them with open arms and helped them make connections in their real lives. ... With parks, libraries and youth clubs being cut from communities entirely and hobbies for kids getting ever more expensive, there is a real prospect that removing access to online spaces could further disadvantage the most disadvantaged.”
The dangers are clear
The Times stresses the negative effects of social media:
“We have the risk of grooming by paedophiles, online bullying, blackmail and radicalisation, sexual development disorders from early and excessive exposure to porn, cognitive impairment from dopamine addiction, a huge rise in teen mental distress (over ten years, a fivefold rise in mental health services being contacted about children and a sevenfold rise in hospital admissions for eating disorders), deterioration in national academic performance, in eyesight, in posture, in sleep and all that sort of thing. ... It might not be perfect. Most laws aren't.”