The forces arranged in favour of banning social media for under-16s are powerful and wide-ranging. The unlikely alliance includes the leader of the Tory party, more than 60 Labour MPs, Big Suze from Peep Show and the patron saint of all bad ideas – His Majesty King Charles III.

It seems probable that when amendment 94A of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is voted on, it will receive support from all these quarters, as well as from Sir Keir Starmer, who has, true to form, launched a consultation on the issue. A handful of mental health charities will tell him that he must really get on with banning social media for teenagers, which he will then promptly and politely do.

Generation after generation, parents have been less willing to let their children live independently

It’s no surprise that these various tentacles of the Establishment have concluded that young people should be deprived of a liberty for their own good. ’Twas ever thus. What is surprising is how few people in public life are prepared to make a case against this authoritarian imposition.

After all, there has been no shortage of people willing to fight digital ID on the grounds that people should not have to prove who they are to go about their lives. Apart from a handful of commentators, very few people seem to be aware of the fact that a ban on social media access for under-16s will necessitate the same ‘papers please’ society that compulsory digital ID would.

The legislation, as drafted, will require proof of identity for websites........

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