00:02Good morning. This is a big step. Real change for our children and our future.
00:12Because today I can announce that the government will ban access to social
00:19media for all children under the age of 16. This is not something I do lightly
00:27and I will not present it as cost-free as if social media has brought no benefits to young people
00:35because clearly that is wrong. But government is always about choices
00:41and it's clear to me that a full ban is the right choice. But parents do just want to do
00:50the best for
00:50their kids. In a way that's what being a parent means. But in this world with this technology
00:57it is hard as a parent to know what to do. And so I think most parents will welcome this
01:04action.
01:05I think they will welcome a clear and decisive choice and they will welcome a government that
01:10stands by them, that supports them to do the best for their children and that fights for their
01:18happiness and safety against the most powerful companies in the world. But it won't be easy.
01:25I mean some technology companies want us to think that social media is unchangeable, part of an
01:32almost natural order. But we have to resist that kind of learned helplessness. We have agency.
01:40We can change it and we will. Yes, it's hard. Hard to legislate for, hard to regulate, hard to enforce.
01:53That's why we sought a wide range of views on this. That's why we listened to people, had a conversation.
01:58We looked carefully at the evidence, learned from countries like Australia that are taking similar
02:05steps. We're taking world leading action on gaming services and live streaming platforms,
02:13where, at the moment, strangers can contact any child unchecked.
02:22So, just think about that. Is there a situation in the offline world where you would just let your child
02:30pair up with a stranger, an adult that you don't know anything about? No. So we're taking action on that.
02:41And crucially, we can adapt as technology changes. We have those powers. So we are ready and confident
02:50that this ban can be effective. Now, will it mean that no child ever logs onto social media again? No.
03:02No. But look, this might shock you, but it doesn't shock parents of teenagers. They get around other laws too.
03:13But we don't say, oh, look, a teenager managed to get a drink somehow, so let's not bother banning alcohol
03:19sales to children. We don't do that, do we? That would be utterly ridiculous. And so I just don't accept
03:26that argument.
03:29We took powers earlier this year to make sure we could move at speed. I was very conscious that with
03:37the Online Safety Act, it took the last government eight years from sort of identifying the beginnings
03:42of the problem to actually passing legislation. And I was determined that will not happen in this case.
03:48So we took the powers early. We hope to pass regulation before Christmas and therefore to bring the ban
03:55ban into force in the early part of next year, probably about springtime. So we can move at real
04:01pace here. That is why we took those powers.
04:03I love it.
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