Teens want more protection online than an Australia-style ban can offer, charities warn Burnham Government

Together with FlippGen and Breck Foundation  we’re urging the Government to design a social media ban that works for children as our new polling reveals young people want more protection than an Australia-style ban can deliver.

Young people believe Sir Keir Starmer ignored their voices when he announced Australia-style restrictions and Andy Burnham should consider more effective protections for children online.

YouGov polled 1,041 children aged 12-15 and found a majority (67%) continue to oppose an Australia-style ban, with a clear preference for the Government to incentivise platforms to become safer-by-design.

We’ve previously warned an Australia-style ban is likely to unravel with 68% of young people thinking peers will circumvent it while it contains safeguarding risks with young people less likely to get support if they are in trouble. A majority of girls (55%) say they would feel confident raising online safety concerns with a teacher, but this drops to 36% when asked to imagine a situation in which they remain on social media despite a ban.

This new data shows that many young people feel an Australia-style ban will fail to keep them safe and that they want more comprehensive safety measures across the range of apps and games they use.

The polling found that more than two-fifths (44%) feel an Australia-style ban will ‘make no real difference’ to their online safety, compared to 42% who expect a positive impact.

Fewer than three in ten 12–15-year-olds (28%) feel an Australia- style ban will have a positive impact on their mental wellbeing. A similar proportion anticipate a negative impact (26%) and many children (40%) expect little impact.

Instead young people tell us they want all the sites and apps they use to be made safe by design.

A substantial majority of young people (61%) feel that action is needed to make livestreaming sites safer for children, with 59% feeling similar in respect of AI chatbots, and 53% believed action was needed to improve children’s safety on gaming sites.

The findings show young people want clear action to tackle harm across the array of platforms they use, rather than a limited Australia-style ban that would cover just a handful of social media sites.

In fact, by a six-to-one margin, young people prefer social media companies being made to make their platforms safer, with three quarters (75%) preferring safety by design and just one-in-eight (13%) preferring a limited Australia-style regime.

Alongside FlippGen and Breck Foundation, we are calling for the Government to adopt Canadian and EU style restrictions which compel tech companies to make their products safe by design for young people, with a ban on high-risk features for younger children, rather than an Australia-style ban on a limited number of social media sites.

Canada and the EU have proposed restrictions that will ensure social media platforms are banned unless they meet strict safety and age appropriate requirements.

Andy Burrows, Chief Executive of Molly Rose Foundation, said: “Young people are clear that they want tech companies and the Government to do more to protect them online but that an Australia-style ban won’t improve their safety and wellbeing.

“The Government has big decisions to make in the next few months but must do what works for children with a smarter ban than the blunt and ineffective approach that has failed children and parents in Australia.

“Instead Andy Burnham should look to Canada and the EU whose approach will incentivise companies to make their products safe by design, rein in safety failures across the full range of apps and games that children use, and ban harmful and addictive features once and for all.”

Erica Thornton, Chief Executive at the Breck Foundation, said: “Breck’s story reminds us that the people who harm children online will go wherever children are. A ban that relies on age checks and default settings leaves the job half done. If children get round it, they’ll be on platforms that were never made safe for them, and they’ll be less likely to tell anyone when something goes wrong.

“Young people are asking for safety by design across every platform they use. Alongside that, every child needs the education to spot the warning signs and the confidence to speak up. We owe it to them, and to Breck, to get this right.”

Paddy Crump, Campaigns Director at FlippGen, said: “In our conversations with young people, they are clear that they want the responsibility for their safety to be on tech platforms, and not on them. Young people have grown up in the digital world, and they know what they want from it. They are both savvy and nuanced, and are asking for regulation of tech platforms without a blunt ban.

“The approaches of Canada and the EU represent the changes that young people are asking for. I really hope the Government listens to the views of young people in the next few months, to ensure that policies are implemented that keep young people safe.”