Source: BBC

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has just announced that under-16s will be banned from social media. 

Starmer says he is not announcing the ban lightly, and recognises it is not “cost-free, as if social media has brought no benefits to young people”. 

But government is about choices, he says, and “it’s clear to me that a full ban is the right choice”. 

Starmer says a full ban is the right choice and that he came to this decision as a parent himself. 

“All I’ve ever wanted for my own children, hand on heart, is for them to be happy and for them to be safe. I think that’s what any parent wants.” 

He asks if it can be believed that social media creates a safe environment for children, “I don’t think I even need to answer those questions, do I?” 

Starmer continues, adding: “Social media is making children unhappy”. 

He says platforms are “making it easier for bullies to harass and abuse” children, and says this could be harmful to people’s mental health. 

It is “designed to be addictive” with features that “lock you in for hours”, Starmer adds. 

Starmer says social media stops children from doing their homework, reading, playing with their friends, and going to bed at a decent hour. 

“That may not sound like much, but these are activities that help a child develop into an adult,” he says. 

“To be honest, I feel for this generation,” he adds. Thinking back to his own childhood, Starmer says children didn’t have to deal with this type of technology that feeds into daily life. 

“In this world, with this technology, it is hard as a parent to know what to do”, Starmer says. 

“I think most parents will welcome this”, he adds. 

But he adds the government still believes it must “harness the power of technology to build a stronger, fairer Britain”. 

The prime minister is now taking questions from journalists in Downing Street, and we’ll bring you a few more lines from his speech in a moment.