21 Jan 2026
Harpenden MP Victoria Collins – the Lib Dems’ technology spokesperson – has accused the Government of playing with children’s futures over social media.
This week Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told the House of Commons that a consultation would take place on whether to ban access to social media for under-16s.
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology has questioned whether social media firms could implement tighter age checks as well as seeking views from parents, young people and civil society.
The proposals follow the world’s first social media ban for young people, which took effect in Australia in December.
But Victoria thinks the Government is wasting time when social media is already having a devastating impact on the country’s young people.
She said: “For too long, social media giants have profited off of our children’s attention with no regard for their mental health and wellbeing. This issue is impacting children and young people in Harpenden but also across this country, and indeed the globe.
“Last year, I carried out my ‘Safer Screens Tour’ in local schools to listen directly to young people themselves about how social media has impacted them. It is children and young people who are at the heart of what I do on this issue. One teenager said “it’s as addictive as a drug, and I feel the negative impacts every day” – another pleaded “help, I just can’t stop”.
“Parents, teachers, experts and young people themselves are crying out for action. Over the last week, nearly 2,000 local people wrote to me demanding action – one of the highest in the country according to campaigners. Parents know we must take action. After 20 years of tech giants putting profit before children, now is the time for the Government to act.
“I have long been raising the alarm that social media harms are nothing short of a public health crisis. I forced a vote to raise the digital age of data consent to 16 to tackle addictive algorithms, voted to ban phones in schools, and called for health warnings on social media for young people.
“Now, myself and fellow Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment in the Lords to ban harmful social media for under-16s, based on a film-style age ratings of up to 18. We would start with a re-set and default age of 16 for social media, linked with strong age assurance, because enough is enough.
“The statement that the Government is launching a consultation is not good enough. We need action, not more deliberation. I am urging the Government to vote for our amendment to ban harmful social media for under 16s and address this public health crisis. Our children’s future is not something to be played with.”
The Liberal Democrats are opposing a blanket ban which could prevent under-16s from using Wikipedia for schoolwork or taking part in their family WhatsApp group.
Speaking at last week’s launch of the policy, Victoria said: “Big tech companies have treated our children as data to be mined rather than young people to be protected. They have built addictive algorithms designed to keep children endlessly doom-scrolling at the expense of their mental health.
“The Conservative proposals for a blanket ban show they just don’t trust parents, and would be a blunt instrument that doesn’t work in a digital age.
“That’s why we’re proposing film-style age ratings for social media, using a system parents already understand and trust. Just as films are rated according to their content, online platforms should be rated according to the risks they pose.
“If a platform hosts the most extreme content, with violence and pornography, it is only right for that platform to be restricted to adults only.”
Last May local headteachers agreed that pupils attending primary schools in Harpenden will not be allowed to bring a smartphone into school from September, a year after their peers in St Albans called on a smartphone ban for children under 14.
This was swiftly followed by calls from hundreds of Harpenden parents to ban smartphones for Year 7s in the town’s secondary schools, an initiative driven by Harpenden Smartphone Free Childhood, the local group of what has swiftly become a national campaign. St George’s School became the first secondary to agree to this policy,
