Children are being “blackmailed into stripping off for strangers”, an MP has warned, as the government calls for a ban on smartphones for under-16s.
Conservative MP Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) told a debate in Westminster Hall that mobile devices had a harmful effect on children.
He said: “This Government has less than a year left in office, but if we can pass the Coronavirus Bill 2020 in just one day, we can certainly use the next few months to introduce effective legislation to protect children.” from a real and present danger.”
Opening the discussion, Ms Cates said: “Imagine if our children being propositioned for sex or blackmailed into stripping for strangers were an everyday occurrence.
“Imagine every mistake your child makes is advertised on public billboards so everyone can laugh and mock until the embarrassment makes life not worth living.
“But this isn’t a horror movie, this isn’t a fictional Wild West; This is the digital world that our children often occupy for hours a day.
“Our children are not well”
Ms Cates compared objections to a reported link between smartphones and poor mental health with the Intoxicating Liquors Act 1901, which ended the sale of alcohol to children, and the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, which raised the age of consent for women from 13 to 16. .
“We will look back and ask why we allowed pedophiles, predators, greedy capitalists and xenophobes unfettered access to our children online,” he said.
SNP MP Alyn Smith said 16-year-old Murray Dowey in his Stirling constituency died by suicide after becoming the victim of “sex blackmail”.
Sextortion victims receive nude photos and threats that if they return a similar photo, the image will be made public unless they comply with demands for details, including credit card details, to be shared online.
“Sextortion is a terrible word for a terrible thing, but it’s something we need to make young people more aware of, especially young people, because the risks are real and obvious,” Mr Smith said.
Imagine if our streets were so lawless that children regularly witnessed rapes and beheadings on their way to school, and were propositioned for sex every day. This isn’t a horror movie: it’s the digital world our children occupy. We have to save kids from this online Wild West. A🧵1/16 pic.twitter.com/XAsgdUQQq3
— Miriam Cates (@miriam_cates) May 14, 2024
“Murray was a bright and happy 16-year-old boy.
“He was football mad, Stirling Albion was his team, he was well-liked and popular, and he committed suicide after falling victim to sex blackmail via his Instagram chat account.”
Mr Smith said a smartphone ban could “encourage backlash” and would be “very difficult to enforce and regulate”.
He said: “I was fascinated by the idea of restricting access in schools, it would be a sensible thing to do.”
He added that police and law enforcement “are not as cohesive as tech companies and their products” and that regulators “don’t seem to have much teeth.”
Labour’s Sir Chris Bryant (Rhondda) said: “I think social media has accelerated some of the worst aspects of humanity.”
He called for “more mental health professionals to be involved in schools.”
Sir Chris said creative education “can be a really important part of developing better self-confidence, self-understanding, socialisation, working as part of a team and all those things, and that’s been one of the problems we’ve had in recent years”. fallen”.
Technology Minister Saqib Bhatti said: “We live in a digital age and many parents want their children to have a smartphone as they provide many benefits to children and parents such as staying connected while traveling alone.
“In other words… while we are trying to protect children from one harm, (a ban) may well lead to another harm.
“So I’ve been talking to a lot of parents who have told me the other side of the argument, and I want to put that on the record.
“The decision about whether a child has access to a smartphone should not be up to the government.
“Instead we should be thinking about empowering parents to make the right decision for their child and their individual circumstances.
“Parents can actually influence the market themselves as consumers, and my belief is that choice is a freedom that parents and children should be allowed to exercise.”
Parliament passed the Online Safety Bill in 2023, which will require tech companies to “prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they arise,” according to the government.
More than 24,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Government to ban smartphones and camera phones for under-16s.