As the UK launches a consultation into a social media ban for under-16s, we hear the arguments for and against in this week’s Debate

YES: Children who are still developing are being fed extreme views

Banning children from social media can only do more good than harm. As a society, we are very quick to protect children in real life, but we are massively failing them when it comes to online safety.

Surveys suggest between 90 to 100 per cent of children as young as 10 are going online every day, with many accessing some form of social media, and this is potentially putting them at risk of serious harm with very minimal oversight or accountability.

Research by the government last year found that just over a third (35 per cent) of children aged 10-15 accepted a friend request on social media from someone they didn’t know, while a fifth chatted to a stranger online and one in 10 received a sexual message online.

Where is the ‘stranger danger’ here? Any parent would be horrified if a stranger approached their child and had an explicit conversation with them in real life, but it’s happening every day behind closed doors via social media.

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