Digital Safety: Children Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Science, Innovation & Technology
Chris Vince
Main Page: Chris Vince (Labour (Co-op) - Harlow)Department Debates - View all Chris Vince's debates with the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology
(6 days, 18 hours ago)
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Kanishka Narayan
The hon. Member raises an important point, and I will ensure that it is fully considered in the evidence that we include when making decisions on that question.
Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)
I thank the Minister for his response to the urgent question; I have always been a big fan of his style. I echo the points made by the Father of the House on the importance of holding social media companies to account. The Minister will not be surprised to hear that I have done extensive consultation with parents, teachers and young people in my constituency of Harlow about the issue. I also echo the comments made by the Chair of the Education Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes); I do not think that social media companies are taking their responsibilities seriously. Does the Minister agree that some sort of social media ban—which would be a good idea—will only be effective if we ensure that the technology does not allow people to circumvent the age-verification tools? That is very important.
Kanishka Narayan
Not even my mother has complimented me on my style, so I can confirm to my hon. Friend that a visit to Harlow is imminent. He is totally right, and one reason that we have taken time to ensure that we are engaging with families and young people is to understand exactly how age-verification technology works, as that is crucial to whether we look at a platform ban or features and functionalities limitations. We want to get it right and robust so that young people in this country are kept safe.