Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure new restrictions on stranger communications on online services do not negatively impact online learning platforms.

On 15 June, the government published a progress statement following the ‘Growing up in the Online World’ consultation.

This set out a package of new measures including banning social media platforms from offering their services to under 16s and restricting harmful functionalities, including stranger communication, across a wider range of services for under 16s. Restrictions on harmful functionalities will also be on by default for 16 and 17 year olds.

The government has been clear that it will consider the case for exemptions when it sets out the final detail in regulations.