Bereaved parents are calling on Keir Starmer to ‘stop dragging his heels’ and back a ban on social media for children under 16 in a crucial vote on the issue tonight.
The mums and dads of children whose deaths have been linked to social media will deliver an urgent demand to Downing Street alongside cross-party MPs and Peers.
The government has so far opposed attempts to outlaw social media for children but the issue is being voted on in the Commons for likely the last time before the current session of Parliament ends in April.
Lisa Kevevan and Ellen Roome, who both lost their sons four years ago, fear more children could be harmed while the government completes a consultation on the proposals.
Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, is also among the almost thirty bereaved parents endorsing the campaign.
Ellen Roome believes her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney’s death in April 2022 could have been an online challenge gone wrong.
She told Metro: ‘How many children are going to be affected by either online harms or die whilst we have this consultation?
‘More children could be harmed while we wait. We just seem to be lagging behind.
‘Social media companies don’t have a conscience. They are all being told to make their platforms less addictive but they are choosing not to.
‘We need to say enough is enough.’
Ellen will be among the campaigners and politicians hand-delivering the letter calling for a social media ban to Number 10 this morning.
The ‘urgent mandate’ – seen by Metro – asks Sir Keir Starmer and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall to ‘hear our heartfelt call’.
It goes on: ‘The world has reached a turning point. Recent ground-breaking court cases have laid bare what families have known for years: unregulated digital platforms are systematically exploiting children through business models driven by addictive engagement.
‘While other nations take decisive legislative action to protect their citizens, the UK remains in a cycle of consultation that risks being outmanoeuvred by the relentless pace of Big Tech.’
The letter also calls for the government to ban addictive features in social media and enforce phone-free schools for all children.
At the end of March, tech giants were found liable in a Los Angeles court for a woman’s addiction to Instagram and YouTube, which began when she was a child.
Earlier that month, MPs rejected an Australia-style ban on social media for under-16s.
The House of Lords forced the issue to come back to the House of Commons, which will vote on it again later tonight, where bereaved parents will be watching on from the gallery.
Ministers continue to reject the proposals, saying they instead want time to consult on the plans while hundreds of teenagers take part in a trial of social media bans, time limits and curfews.
However mum Lisa Kenevan said the need for a social media ban was ‘overwhelmingly obvious’.
Her son Isaac was found dead in March 2022 after he attempted what Lisa believes was a dangerous online stunt gone wrong.
Lisa said: ‘We have to act now on a social media ban. We know the devastation it can cause. We don’t need to collate more information.’
She will also be delivering the letter to the prime minister’s doorstep later this morning.
Asked what her message to him would be, the mum said: ‘Please sit up and listen to the people.
‘Look at the feeling across the country. We are at a crisis point.’
More than 30 MPs and members of the Lords from across the political spectrum are also demanding that Number 10 change course on the social media ban.
Lord John Nash, who is spearheading the two amendments, said: ‘The government’s plan is merely to issue a progress report in six months time – how is this possibly effective action in the face of the evidence about the horrific harms that social media inflicts and the pace of technological change?
‘It risks leaving us laps behind in protecting our children. The government should act now to raise the age for harmful social media to 16. It would be very popular.’
There are high profile opponents of a social media ban among child safety campaigners.
These include the NSPCC and the Molly Rose Foundation, a suicide prevention charity set up in memory of Molly Russell, who was 14 when she took her own life after viewing harmful content online.
They argue it is the ‘wrong solution’ that would provide a ‘false sense of safety that would see children migrate to other areas online’.
In a statement earlier this year, the charities added: ‘Though well-intentioned, blanket bans on social media would fail to deliver the
improvement in children’s safety and wellbeing that they so urgently need.’
A DSIT spokesperson previously said: ‘We remain completely committed to giving children here in the UK the enriching childhoods they deserve.
‘That’s why we launched a consultation on bold measures to protect children online looking at everything from banning social media for under-16s to tackling addictive design features.
‘When it comes to children’s safety, nothing is off the table and we will set out our plans in the summer.’
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