This year, the UK has achieved remarkable strides toward its objective of shielding children from the detrimental effects of the internet. Back in October, it was announced that the Online Safety Bill had formally entered Britain’s legal books.
The bill was enacted in order to place more stringent regulations on businesses such as Wikipedia, Apple, and Meta, with the intention of preventing minors from accessing and viewing inappropriate and possibly dangerous content.
According to the new law, UK children will also no longer be able to access self-harm material. The law was introduced in the wake of the suicide of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who tragically took her own life in 2017 after watching ‘massive amounts of content relating to suicide, depression, and anxiety online’, according to a coroner ruling.
Social media in the UK
Despite this development, however, the government still seems keen on pushing another law that will altogether limit the social media usage of those under the age of 16.
According to multiple sources, the government is preparing to launch a consultation in January to examine evidence of social media dangers to young teens.
While there were early reports that this law was a “full ban,” Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden eventually refuted this, saying he “did not want to reach for a lever of banning.”
However, he continued, saying that they still needed to consider how to protect minors online and that he believed any responsible government should take such action.
The science minister, Andrew Griffith, also spoke on the matter, saying that Sunak’s administration does not impose philosophical bans on things merely for the purpose of doing so. In addition, he described the law as merely “speculation” and stated that a consultation would take place the following year.
The proposed law, if it comes to it, would only require teenagers to get their parents’ consent before opening an account on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
https://theindependent.co/x-users-criticising-southwest-airlines-for-giving-free-additional-seats-to-plus-size-passengers/
Cover Photo: YouTube
