Local Labour MP Peter Lamb Welcomes Government Action to Protect Children from Harmful Social Media Content

Peter Lamb, Labour MP for Crawley, has welcomed the Government’s announcement that it intends to ban children under the age of 16 from accessing social media platforms, describing the move as an important step towards protecting young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

The proposed measures come amid growing concern about the impact of social media on children’s mental health, exposure to harmful content, online bullying, and addictive platform design.

Peter Lamb MP also stressed the importance of working with schools, parents, children’s charities and technology companies to ensure that any new restrictions are implemented effectively and fairly.

The Government is expected to bring forward further details on enforcement measures and age verification requirements in the coming months.

Labour MP for Crawley Peter Lamb said:

“As Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Wellbeing Economics I have seen the evidence of the damage social media is doing to the mental health of young people and met with some of the leading researchers in the field.

“The evidence is overwhelming. As with all changes, there will be challenges with implementation, but that in no way removes the duty of a Government to act and I am deeply relieved that the Government is taking this action to protect developing brains.”