{"text":[[{"start":7.85,"text":"Sir Keir Starmer has argued that a “full ban is the right choice” as he announced sweeping restrictions on social media for children. "}],[{"start":15.95,"text":"The ban is due to take effect next year, but critics have raised questions about the practicalities. "}],[{"start":21.95,"text":"Which platforms are included?"}],[{"start":24.05,"text":"Britain’s restrictions will be modelled on those in Australia, where platforms whose “sole and significant purpose” is to enable social interaction online are banned for under-16s. "}],[{"start":35.9,"text":"Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch will be included. Other sites such as Bluesky and dating apps are also likely to be included, but Pinterest, YouTube Kids and messaging services such as WhatsApp will not be banned. "}],[{"start":51.7,"text":"What other restrictions are being imposed?"}],[{"start":54.85,"text":"Britain is going further than Australia in banning platforms from offering livestreaming for under-16s and from allowing strangers to contact child users. These rules will be imposed on services such as Roblox and Discord not covered by the blanket ban. Chatbots offering romantic companionship will be banned for under-18s. "}],[{"start":73.9,"text":"How will age be verified?"}],[{"start":76,"text":"It’s not clear. The regulator Ofcom has been given until October to decide what will count as “highly effective” methods of age verification, which will be different from current rules under the Online Safety Act, which imposes a limit of 18 for some content. This could include facial-scanning technology or documentation. "}],[{"start":96.2,"text":"Adults will have to verify their age to continue to use social media, although accounts open for more than 16 years, or linked to credit cards, are not expected to need extra checks. Officials are exploring whether age verification could be done through Apple and Google’s operating systems to apply to all apps on a device."}],[{"start":116.65,"text":"Officials are also looking at how virtual private networks (VPNs), which disguise users’ location, have worked in Australia and whether there are ways to stop teenagers using them, including exploring device-level age verification enforced through Apple and Google’s operating systems."}],[{"start":133.85,"text":"How will it be enforced and what will the penalties be?"}],[{"start":138.5,"text":"Enforcement will be modelled on the Online Safety Act, with companies in violation liable for fines of up to 10 per cent of qualifying worldwide revenue. Persistent and wilful violations could lead to platforms being blocked in Britain. "}],[{"start":152.85,"text":"Ofcom will be charged with monitoring children’s social media use and policing compliance. There will be no penalties for children or parents. "}],[{"start":161.6,"text":"Ofcom has already seen a large expansion of its remit since it started enforcing the Online Safety Act: the size of its online safety team increased from about 200 in early 2024 to nearly 300 by the end of last year. Dame Melanie Dawes, who leads Ofcom, on Monday stressed the “additional burden” on the agency and urged the government to provide “additional funding”. "}],[{"start":184.65,"text":"What are the rules for 16- and 17-year-olds?"}],[{"start":188.15,"text":"Ministers plan to turn off “addictive” features such as infinite scroll for older teenagers, along with livestreaming and the ability of strangers to contact them. However, these will only be default settings and 16- and 17-year-olds could choose to opt out of them. Ministers are also considering an overnight curfew, but will not finalise rules for this age group until July. "}],[{"start":210,"text":"Does the science support a ban?"}],[{"start":212.85,"text":"The 2024 book The Anxious Generation by the US social psychologist Jonathan Haidt distilled many inchoate worries about social media’s impact on younger people: he argued that a “great rewiring of childhood” was stoking a mental health crisis. "}],[{"start":229.9,"text":"However, in a report published after Haidt’s book, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded that available research on social media and health showed “small effects and weak associations”. Even the observed sharp rises in diagnosis rates of anxiety, depression and other disorders in younger people are hard to interpret because of the possibility they reflect in part a greater recognition of these as conditions. "}],[{"start":257.35,"text":"The evidence on the impact of social media use on children and young people was “mixed and largely correlational, with effects that depend more on what they see and do online than on access alone”, said Holly Bear, a researcher in the University of Oxford’s psychiatry department."}],[{"start":275,"text":"Plausible specific concerns based on current knowledge about young people’s activities online included the impact of heavy usage and of material focused on appearance and social comparisons, scientists said."}],[{"start":286.3,"text":"How has the industry reacted?"}],[{"start":288.3,"text":"Technology companies have criticised the ban, saying it will deny young people benefits of interacting online and push them towards less safe alternatives. "}],[{"start":296.95,"text":"YouTube said its content was “a vital resource for young people, educators and parents. Blanket bans push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less safe services”. "}],[{"start":310.7,"text":"Snapchat said it supported “thoughtful and proportionate regulation” but argued “the majority of time spent on Snapchat is in private messaging between friends and family”. "}],[{"start":321.15,"text":"What other criticisms are there?"}],[{"start":323.15,"text":"Some internet safety campaigners argue that banning social media for under-16s avoids holding companies to account for the design of their platforms. "}],[{"start":332.59999999999997,"text":"Kerry Moscogiuri, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said: “The problem is not that children exist on social media; it’s that social media companies have built platforms that are unsafe by design.” "}],[{"start":344.45,"text":"The Molly Rose Foundation, set up by the father of 14-year-old Molly Russell who took her life after seeing suicide and self-harm content online, said that “a social media ban will fail to tackle fundamental product safety risks and leaves parents with a false sense of safety”. "}],[{"start":362.45,"text":"Why has Starmer changed his mind?"}],[{"start":365.7,"text":"Last year, the prime minister was ordering his MPs to vote against restrictions on social media, but he shifted position rapidly as political and parental pressure grew. "}],[{"start":376.34999999999997,"text":"A groundswell against social media has been growing, fuelled by Haidt’s book and campaign groups including Smartphone Free Childhood. Ministers were swayed by seeing that 91 per cent of the 54,000 parents who responded to a public consultation support a ban, with the main opposition Conservatives also calling for action. "}],[{"start":397.09999999999997,"text":"A poll by More in Common in March found that about 70 per cent of Britons favoured a ban on social media for under-16s, with strong majorities among supporters of all major parties."}],[{"start":408.34999999999997,"text":"With Starmer in danger of being ousted if Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election on Thursday, he is seeking ways to regain the initiative and secure a legacy as prime minister. "}],[{"start":427.9,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1781582810_3290.mp3"}