Jo🌸

@mitfoid At least they aren’t on their phones 🙄

Funny how bluewater in kent has been given a dispersal order over reports of antisocial behaviour and these are the videos. By “school kids causing trouble” they mean africans.

My 17-year-old daughter: “I’m confused. We’ve always been taught not to share personal information or anything that identifies us online because it isn’t safe. Now they want us to do exactly that to access social media.”

@YoungBobRB This is awful. They are animals.

I’ve just been checked over by an ambulance after a group of foreign lads came up behind me while I was doing a debate stand, dragged me to the ground, and kicked and punched me. I passed out halfway through and don’t remember everything that happened. From what I can recall, it started while I was sitting down, and they took some of my equipment during the assault. The police arrived about five minutes after the assault, recovering as much as they could. One of my cameras exploded when they tried to seize it, or steal it. Instead of running away with it, they destroyed it, causing the battery to explode. However, I have the SD card, and we'll be checking whether the footage is still there so they can identify what actually happened. Members from Stand Up to Racism were counter-protesting, and they were egging them on and filming it. The police did nothing to stop the counter-protesters or retrieve the footage to see what actually happened. I’ll be going to the hospital now, as I have a cut and a number of marks on my neck, bruises on my face and the top of my head, and cuts running down my back.

@PatrickChristys @sinenomine26 @YoungBobRB What utter animals

There are so many people just standing around, filming or doing nothing as @YoungBobRB is brutally beaten up in the street. What have we become?

@NadiaWhittomeMP My 13 year old uses you tube to learn how to play the piano. Researches information or how to do things. He uses it for good. He doesn’t have instagram or tik tok or the others, my choice as a parent not to let him have it. Why am I now not trusted to parent?

I have been contacted by many constituents about the harm caused to children by social media - from viewing inappropriate content and the risk of grooming, to bullying and the impact on mental health. I share these concerns, but I worry that a blanket social media ban for under-16s isn’t the answer. Firstly, it’s unlikely to work. Young people will either find ways to access these sites, or they will be pushed to even less regulated and darker corners of the internet. But fundamentally, a ban like this lets Big Tech off the hook for creating and profiting from these harms. What young people, and all of us, need is safety by design. Experts have spent years calling for algorithmic accountability and default protections to be built into these platforms, alongside stronger regulation.

@writtenoff_mufc My 13 year old uses you tube to learn how to play the piano. Researches information or how to do things. He uses it for good. He doesn’t have instagram or tik tok or the others, my choice as a parent not to let him have it. Why am I now not trusted to parent?

Question for parents on here, if you are against the social media ban for kids, can you explain why?

@beverleyturner ‘I want to keep all the children safe online’ but up till now it didn’t bother her that her child was on you tube which is being banned. Make it make sense

Wth was her 6 year old doing on You Tube anyway?! SIX!!! If you can't control what your SIX (!!!!) year old is watching without government intervention you are simply a failed parent. SIX year-olds should have no access to the internet unaccompanied. Why wasn't she given a book, a toy or even a TV show - not You Tube!!

@AdyDrury @BBCBreakfast That’s probably the most worrying of all

@jobennett78 @BBCBreakfast But not banned them from lefty Blue sky which we all know will be rammed full with sexual deviants and peadophiles.

Keir Starmer has said under-16s will be banned from social media as soon as Spring 2027. Children at a school near Preston gave their reaction to the announcement on #BBCBreakfast bbc.co.uk/news/live/c77y…

@MichelleDewbs @CharlotteCGill I found that video very strange. Very weird indeed

I have a son roughly this age. I can not ever imagine filming him in tears, and sharing that with the world, for political gain. Why are so many people so weird these days 🤯

@CMcKinnellMP My 13 year old uses you tube to learn how to play the piano. Researches information or how to do things. He uses it for good. He doesn’t have instagram or tik tok or the others, my choice as a parent not to let him have it. Why am I now not trusted to parent?

A mum stopped me at the station to say how happy she is that we are legislating to protect children online. She’s excited for her younger son to have more quality time during his childhood. That’s all any parent wants, and the Government is taking action to support this.

@NJSimmondsbooks Eh. My 13 year old still doesn’t have tik tok. My choice as a parent. Any app he want has to be authorised by me. Parents need to grow a pair

Good. Of course kids will find a way around this, and yes its hard to regulate, but being able to say to your 11yo "you're not going on TikTok, it's illegal" makes like easier. No child has the cognitive development to bypass or process harmful content. Tbh many adults don't!

@Nigel_Farage @LPerrins No. The real answer is to let parents parent. My 13 year old doesn’t have Snapchat, Instagram or tik tok. He has you tube and uses it for research, helping with coding issues, learning to play the piano. I also have a 16 year old. Any apps they want have to be authorised by us.

Whilst the social media ban is well-intentioned, it’s unlikely to work given the mass adoption of VPNs. It will also mean the introduction of Digital ID via the back door. The real answer here is handsets for children with limited features.

@JuliaHB1 @Richard41786952 My 13 year old uses you tube to learn how to play the piano. Researches information or how to do things. He uses it for good. He doesn’t have instagram or tik tok or the others, my choice as a parent not to let him have it. Why am I now not trusted to parent?

I say this as a parent who is genuinely in two minds on a social media ban because the risks to our kids are clear but the solutions aren't. Starmer's announcement is clearly a knee jerk attempt to do something popular as his authority crumbles. That's a dangerous background for making new laws.

@TonyGoldSE @KirstieMAllsopp Clearly.

@jobennett78 @KirstieMAllsopp Jo You have no right to say what your child does and does not use social media for. Keir Starmer decides that.

It is understandable that some people feel that an outright ban on social media for kids under 16 let’s big tech of the hook. But it does two things 1. The message is sent Social Media damages kids 2. We haven’t got time to wait for Meta et al to grow a social conscience.

@MrBrendanCox My 13 year old uses you tube to learn how to play the piano. Researches information or how to do things. He uses it for good. He doesn’t have instagram or tik tok or the others, my choice as a parent not to let him have it. Why am I now not trusted to parent?

For too long we have acted as if the harm of algorithmic social media was just a fact that we were powerless to address. It’s genuinely refreshing to see government step up & finally embrace their responsibility to act. This must just be the start. bbc.co.uk/news/live/c77y…

@BBCPolitics My 13 year old uses you tube to learn how to play the piano. Researches information or how to do things. He uses it for good. He doesn’t have instagram or tik tok or the others, my choice as a parent not to let him have it. Why am I now not trusted to parent?

New social media restrictions will end 'system failing our kids', PM Keir Starmer says bbc.in/4uEcmPQ

@SciTechgovuk @DHSCgovuk My 13 year old uses you tube to learn how to play the piano. Researches information or how to do things. He uses it for good. He doesn’t have instagram or tik tok or the others, my choice as a parent not to let him have it. Why am I now not trusted to parent?

The UK Government has announced plans to ban social media platforms from providing their services to under 16s. This is a major step to protect children online – meaning less time to scroll, more time to play, and a safer digital future.

@BBCr4today My 13 year old uses you tube to learn how to play the piano. Researches information or how to do things. He uses it for good. He doesn’t have instagram or tik tok or the others, my choice as a parent not to let him have it. Why am I now not trusted to parent?

"We need to police age now and not content." The Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott supports the government's ban of social media for under 16's and believes previous methods to protect children online have failed.