Matt Hancock, the UK culture secretary, thinks that children should not be allowed to have overnight access to mobile phones, and he does not allow his own children to have them at all. However, he does not agree that the nation should follow the lead of the French government by creating legislation on the issue. Digital issues are included in Hancock’s brief, but the culture secretary says that while it is everyone’s responsibility, including parents, to ensure that children remain safe online, the government can make certain that internet companies properly police terms and conditions on their sites.
Hancock draws the line at the idea of more direct intervention by the UK government to control the level of exposure that children can have to new technology in a manner like that employed by the French. A law enacted in 2010 in that country bans phones from classrooms. Emmanuel Macron, the nation’s President, has gone even further, with youngsters under the age of 15 not allowed to use them at school at all from September this year. Hancock does not believe it is appropriate for the law to go this far, saying that society needs to mature to get the most from the “amazing and brilliant” technology instead of using it badly. However, he acknowledges that it is difficult for parents when children often understand the new technology more than they do and there are no previously established social norms to help them with guidance.
Despite this, Hancock is more stringent when it comes to other ways of regulating the internet, reiterating his intention to enact legislation forcing social media companies to be responsible for the content that is available on their platforms. He says that the UK may choose to craft its own legislation on the issue if an international coalition could not support such regulation. He made these comments ahead of the start of London Tech Week, which is designed to promote the digital industry in the nation’s capital city.
The rules regulating children’s access to the internet on many high-profile social networks have been tightened with the advent of the European General Data Protection Regulation. The law sets the minimum age that children should be allowed to have a social media account at 13, with fines of up to €20m or 4% of annual worldwide turnover, depending on which is higher, for those firms breaking that law. The age at which users can consent to data processing has also been set at 16 by default unless countries enact specific legislation to lower it. This action has already taken place in the UK, with the age lowered to 13 because of the Data Protection Act 2018. Several social networks have already tightened their practices as a result, although the government has given few details as to the nature of any possible future legislation on the issue.
