Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called for a ban on all social media for children under the age of 16 a month after Australia enacted similar rules for its citizens.
The government has not made any moves towards implementing such a policy despite a range of studies – including from the former US surgeon general Vivek Murthy – that link excessive social media use to negative impacts on children’s mental health.
Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch said: “What we are seeing is a lot of children spending so many hours a day on platforms that are profiting from their anxiety, from their distraction, and they are actually designed to be addictive.
“So what we want to see is common sense, protection for children and freedom for adults. We want to give parents some understanding that the government understands what they’re going through. So we want to bring in age limits.
“The internet is a wild west, social media in particular. We don’t think children should...