Social Media Leaders Called to Downing Street
Social media executives are scheduled to attend a meeting at Downing Street on Thursday to discuss the safety of children online with the prime minister. Senior representatives from Meta, Snap, YouTube, TikTok, and X are expected to be questioned by Sir Keir Starmer and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall regarding their efforts to protect children and address parental concerns.
"The meeting would be about making sure social media companies step up and take responsibility,"Sir Keir stated.
This meeting occurs amid a government public consultation on whether to prohibit social media use for individuals under 16, following similar regulations implemented in Australia. Downing Street has not disclosed the specific representatives from each technology company who will attend.
"The consequences of failing to act are stark,"Sir Keir emphasized.
"We owe it to parents, and to the next generation, to put children's safety first - because they won't forgive us if we don't."
Number 10 noted that some social media platforms have already taken steps to enhance protections, such as disabling autoplay by default for children and providing parents with greater control over screen time.
Social Media Ban Debate
Professor Gina Neff, head of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge, described the meeting as a strategic move by the government to demonstrate proactive engagement with the issue.
"This is also letting the government stay strong on online harms in a moment where there's been changing geopolitical pressures on the government to be easy on US companies,"she added.
On Wednesday evening, UK Members of Parliament rejected, for the second time, proposals to ban social media use for under-16s, despite previous support from the House of Lords. Ministers argued that a ban would be premature since the government is considering its own regulatory measures. Instead, MPs voted to grant ministers the authority to implement appropriate rules.
Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott criticized the decision, stating:
"Labour MPs have once again failed parents and children by voting against a ban on social media for under-16s and against removing smartphones from schools.
Other countries are waking up to the harms, but under Keir Starmer the UK is falling behind."
Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson added:
"The time for half-measures is over - we need action now to restrict the most harmful platforms for under-16s."
Recent research by the internet safety charity Molly Rose Foundation found that more than 60% of underage Australians continue to use social media despite a ban on under-16s that was introduced in December 2025. The charity, founded by the family of Molly Russell, who died by suicide in 2017 at age 14 after exposure to self-harm and suicide content on platforms including Instagram, has campaigned against adopting an Australia-style ban in the UK.
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, welcomed the prime minister's meeting but cautioned against empty commitments from technology companies.
"Keir Starmer must turn his welcome rhetoric into action with a clear commitment in the King's Speech to a new Online Safety Act that finally calls time on cavalier business models that put profit before safety,"he said.
Professor Amy Orben, a digital mental health expert at Cambridge University, emphasized the importance of holding social media companies and their business models accountable.
"Social media companies' increasingly powerful algorithms have caused concern across the population, with young people and parents telling us that they experience struggles to disengage from the online world,"she explained.
The national consultation, which also considers potential age restrictions on other services such as gaming sites and AI chatbots, will close on 26 May. Downing Street reported receiving more than 45,000 responses, including input from approximately 80 organizations such as schools and community groups.
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