Plans are currently being reviewed by the Government to introduce a 10pm social media curfew for children under 16amid TikTok announcing its curfew.
Peter Kyle, the Digital Secretaryexpressed he is looking into the impact of social media on young people, including sleep and family life disruption, as well as other aspects of their lives while assessing the effectiveness of existing parental control tools.
The news comes in after the final version of the Children’s Codes under the Online Safety Act was published by regulator Ofcom. It is now a requirement that tech firms carry out detailed age checks and ensure their algorithms do not push “harmful content to children”.
The new social media curfew would mean that parents could set both a screen time limit, as well as switch off access to the platforms after 10pm. Once the curfew is reached, the screen would start playing calm musicwhich can also be opted out.
The new measure aims to allow parents to have as much control as possible over their children’s devices, and is trying to avoid “blanket measures and tools in all circumstances”.
Peter Kyle told The Telegraph: “These are things I am looking at. I’m not going to act on something that will have a profound impact on every single child in the country without making sure that the evidence supports it, but I am investing in (researching) the evidence, I’m engaging with it, and I’m raring to go.”
“It is clear that some of the addictive nature of some of the products is causing anxiety and frustration to young people themselves.
“I believe there is evidence that young people feel angry with themselves about some of the time that slips through their fingers when they start doom-scrolling.
“There is the opportunity for partnerships between my department and tech companies using digital skills and technology to help young people use the best aspects of online life. So I harness the best aspects of online life and do a damned sight better at mitigating the downsides.”
“One of the areas that I’ve been pressing my team to find evidence on is the impact on sleep. It is something that gives me cause for concern, simply because most parents don’t feel empowered or that they don’t have the tools to help young people make the right choices when it comes to switching off. Yes, so this is something I am actively looking at at this very moment.”
“It is not the Government’s job to pick up the pieces from poorly tested and understood products but that is the inheritance we have because of the speed of innovation in online products.”
