{"id":115533,"date":"2026-02-15T23:12:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=115533"},"modified":"2026-02-15T23:12:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:12:00","slug":"no-free-pass-for-internet-platforms-on-child-safety-starmer-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=115533","title":{"rendered":"No free pass for internet platforms on child safety, Starmer says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 6 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

No online platform will get a \u201cfree pass\u201d on children\u2019s safety on the internet in new plans, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said.<\/p>\n

The government is pledging to close loopholes in existing laws designed to protect children online and will\u00a0consult on a social media ban for under-16s\u00a0as part of its online safety plans.<\/p>\n

There are also plans to introduce powers to swiftly change the law in response to evolving online behaviours, and to update legislation to protect children\u2019s social media and online data, as advocated by the group Jools\u2019 Law.<\/p>\n

Opponents accused the government of \u201cinaction\u201d, and have called for Parliament to be given a vote on the social media ban for children.<\/p>\n

The government had already said it would launch a public consultation in March to seek opinions on restricting children\u2019s access to AI chatbots and limiting infinite-scroll features, also known as doomscrolling.<\/p>\n

It follows arguments between ministers and X\u2019s Elon Musk earlier this year, after the platform\u2019s Grok AI chatbot was used to make fake nude images of women.<\/p>\n

Ahead of launching the consultation, Sir Keir said: \u201cThe action we took on Grok sent a clear message that no platform gets a free pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology is moving really fast, and the law has got to keep up. With my government, Britain will be a leader, not a follower, when it comes to online safety,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Other measures being considered include preventing children from using virtual private networks (VPNs) to illicitly access pornography and amending the law so chatbots have to protect users from illegal content.<\/p>\n

Ella Roome believes her son Jools (left) died when an internet challenge went wrong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are also plans to change the rules governing how children\u2019s social media data is stored under the Crime and Policing Bill, following the Jools\u2019 Law campaign.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Ellen Roome\u2019s son, Jools, died at age 14. She believes he was attempting an online challenge that went wrong, but has never been able to access his data to prove it.<\/p>\n

Under current rules, a child\u2019s data must be requested from tech companies within 12 months of their death by either a coroner or the police.<\/p>\n

But bereaved parents often say that by the time that happens, this record of what their child has been doing online has already been deleted.<\/p>\n

New rules will require it to be preserved within five days if it may be relevant to the cause of death, which should help more families get answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis going forward will help other bereaved families,\u201d Roome said. \u201cWhat we now need to do is stop the harm happening in the first place. This is really relevant when a child dies, but we need to stop them dying in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Nash, a Conservative former minister who has been campaigning in the Lords for tighter social media controls for children, welcomed the adoption of Jools\u2019 Law by the government.<\/p>\n

But, he said to avoid \u201cfuture tragedies\u201d, the \u201cgovernment must raise the age limit to 16 for the most harmful platforms now\u201d.<\/p>\n

Shadow education secretary Laura Trott described the consultation announcement as \u201cinaction\u201d, and said Britain was \u201clagging behind. \u201cI am clear that we should stop under-16s accessing these platforms,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Liberal Democrat spokeswoman Munira Wilson, too, accused the government of continuing to \u201ckick the can down the road\u201d and called for a \u201cmuch clearer, firm timeline\u201d on when action will be taken.<\/p>\n

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the government was \u201cdetermined to give children the childhood they deserve and to prepare them for the future at a time of rapid technological change\u201d and would \u201cnot wait\u201d to take the action families needed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No online platform will get a “free pass” on children’s safety on the internet in new plans, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16974,1910,10,9,16975,15973],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-child-safety","category-international","category-politics","category-popular","category-social-media-addiction","category-social-media-ban"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}