My Lords, I express my gratitude to the Government, including our Minister, the Secretary of State for DSIT and Minister Narayan, for coming to the conclusions that they have as a result of the consultation. They have listened and are clearly determined to act effectively. I add my gratitude to the bereaved parents who have endured unimaginable pain to get to this point. I was grateful to the...
But, given that apart from in relation to VPNs the Government have gone further than I was asking for, I commend their approach and particularly like its dynamic nature, which enables them, under the powers taken in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, to come forward with not just part 2 in July but parts 3 and 4, and so on, as technology moves on apace, so that we can play catch-up fast.
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her kind words and for the statement. I thank the Government for their active engagement in the matter of social media, albeit rather last-minute, and for making a binding commitment to impose some form of age or functionality restrictions for children under 16, to be focused on addictive features, harmful, algorithmic-driven content, and features such as...
My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, who really does know what she is talking about. I remember that, during the debates on the now Online Safety Act, it was she who first drew the attention of your Lordships’ House to the dangers of the algorithm, and here we are, so many years later. However, it is the algorithm that must go—the Prime Minister has said it—for...
My Lords, I will speak to Motion A1 and my amendment on social media. Discussions have taken place with the Government and I thank them for their engagement, but we have not yet reached an agreement and I will put this matter to a vote today. I note the change from “may” to “must”, but it is not a “must” to do anything very specific. However, based on statements that the Prime...
My Lords, I wish to test the temperature of the House. Ayes 284, Noes 158.
My Lords, I too welcome the Minister back to her place, and I thank the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed, for his remarks. I will speak to my Motion A2. For anyone who has studied them, the verdicts in the two US cases are clearly game-changers. The evidence from the social media companies themselves is damning. I have a treasure-trove of these documents, if any noble Lord would like them....
My Lords, I have listened to what the Minister has to say, but I have also read the consultation very carefully and listened to the statements made publicly by the DSIT Secretary of State. I can only conclude from those that the Government have no real commitment to do anything serious about the harms that our children are experiencing on social media, and I ask the House to agree to my...
To ask His Majesty's Government how many respondents to their consultation paper Growing up in the online world, published on 2 March, said that they either (1) strongly agree, or (2) somewhat agree, that “social media services should have a minimum age of access of at least 16 and should not be accessible to any children under that age”; and how many otherwise expressed support for...
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Lloyd of Effra on 19 March (HL15262), which individuals attended the meeting of academic, researchers and other experts chaired by Dame Angela McLean in February to consider the objectives and methodologies for the pilots announced as part of the Growing up in the online world consultation.
To ask His Majesty's Government how many in-person and virtual meetings ministers, senior aides or officials in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have had with representatives of any providers of social media or gaming platforms, including trade bodies for those businesses, since June 2024; and how many of those meetings took place after 1 September 2025.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of whether civil society, charitable or academic organisations or individuals responding to the Growing up in the online world consultation have relationships with investors in, or providers or promoters of, technology services that give rise to conflicts of interest.
To ask His Majesty's Government when a decision will be made and communicated as to whether a fiat will be granted to enable an application to the High Court to reopen the inquest into the death of Julian ‘Jools’ Sweeney.
To ask His Majesty's Government which civil society, charitable or corporate organisations, if any, were invited to comment on or provide input to the content of the Growing up in the online world consultation prior to its publication on 2 March.
To ask His Majesty's Government who will select academics to join the academic panel announced in the Growing up in the online world consultation; on what basis those academics will be selected; and what steps they will take to ensure that any actual or potential conflicts of interest, including research funding relationships, can be publicly disclosed by those on the panel.
To ask His Majesty's Government which academics or consultants will design and supervise the pilots announced as part of the Growing up in the online world consultation; and whether they will publish the protocols for those pilots.
