Wes Streeting asks US expert Jonathan Haidt to address officials about social media bans for those under 16 | Social media

Wes Streeting has asked Jonathan Haidt, best-selling author and leading advocate of social media bans for under-16s, to speak to his officials as he seeks to push the UK to consider pursuing a social media ban. Historic ban In Australia.

The Health Minister has invited Heydt to speak at an event with staff, charities and members of Parliament after the Prime Minister, Keir StarmerHe said he was open to imposing tougher restrictions on young people.

Haidt emerged After writing The Anxious Generationwhere he said that the widespread use of smartphones has caused a mental health crisis for young people.

He has become a global campaigner for stricter rules, including social media bans for under-16s and smartphones in schools.

Starmer He said on Monday It will consider all options to limit young people’s access to social media. “We look at Australia, there are different ways you can enforce this,” he told a meeting of Labor MPs.

The Prime Minister also touched on the use of phones in schools, adding: “No one thinks you should have phones in schools.”

The comments reflect a change of heart for Starmer, who previously said banning social media would be difficult for police and could push teenagers towards the dark web.

Fleur Anderson, a Labor MP who has been campaigning for tougher restrictions, said: “I was really pleased to hear that the Prime Minister is seriously looking at the Australian model. It’s time to get this right and give young people the protection they need.”

Starmer’s words reflect the growing Westminster consensus in favor of such a move – partly sparked by the row. Via X AI tool Allowing users to create sexual images of women and children.

On Tuesday, the Lib Dems’ Ed Davey became the latest party leader to leave the door open to social media bans for young people after a similar move by Reform UK’s Nigel Farage.

Kemi Badenoch, Leader of the Conservative Party. Announced on Sunday She said she would enact a ban if elected prime minister, and would push for a ban on the opposition. Andy Burnham, Labor Mayor of Greater Manchester, He also said He would support such a move.

Government ministers are divided between ardent supporters of restrictions on social media and those with concerns about how they will be implemented and their impact on teenagers.

Streeting has been one of the most vocal advocates for stronger action, telling the BBC last week: “I sometimes feel like my attention span is suffering because of the death scrolling and the way information is presented in increasingly bite-sized chunks. I worry about what this means for the development and cognitive development of a generation of children and young people.”

In addition to the event with Haidt, Streeting asked officials to look into the details of the Australian ban, which came into effect at the start of the year.

Technology Minister Liz Kendall is also understood to be examining the Australian policy, although she has not commissioned a team to actively examine it.

Her allies say she is heeding warnings from charities such as the NSPCC that a total ban could push young people towards the dark web and undermine attempts to teach them how to use social media responsibly.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, and Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, have similar concerns, according to government insiders.

Nandy conducted a survey of 14,000 young people and found that most of them did not want a total ban. she He told the Guardian Last year: “The challenge with social media bans is implementation. Are we really saying as a country that we’re going to start prosecuting people under 18 for using social media?”

Senior government sources say they are concerned about the possibility that their Labor peers will support a Conservative-led bid to amend the Child Welfare and Schools Bill to include a ban on under-16s.

The amendment, proposed by former minister John Nash, was signed by Labor MP Luciana Berger and Liberal Democrat Floella Benjamin.

Government officials believe enough of their Labor peers can vote for or abstain from this amendment to pass it when it is debated next week. The issue will then move to the House of Commons, where many Labor MPs could join the Conservatives in supporting it.