More than 60 Labour MPs urge Starmer to back under-16s social media ban

The Guardian - World NewsCenter-LeftEN 4 min read 100% complete by Kiran Stacey and Pippa CrerarJanuary 18, 2026 at 04:00 PM
More than 60 Labour MPs urge Starmer to back under-16s social media ban

AI Summary

medium article 4 min

More than 60 Labour MPs are urging Keir Starmer to support a ban on social media for under-16s in the UK. The MPs, representing a range of political views within the party, have written a letter to Starmer ahead of a House of Lords vote this week on an amendment to the children, wellbeing and schools bill that would enact such a ban. They cite concerns about children's mental health, social skills, and ability to focus, pointing to similar legislation being considered or implemented in other countries like Australia. The MPs argue that social media platforms should be responsible for enforcing age limits, rather than parents. The vote in the House of Lords could create a conflict with Starmer, who is waiting to assess the results of Australia's ban before making a decision.

Keywords

social media ban 100% under-16s 90% labour mps 80% keir starmer 70% age limits 60% technology platforms 50% children's wellbeing 50% australia 40% legislation 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Neutral
Score: 0.05

Source Transparency

Source
The Guardian - World News
Political Lean
Center-Left (-0.40)
Far LeftCenterFar Right
Classification Confidence
90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

No topic relationship data available yet. This graph will appear once topic relationships have been computed.
Explore Full Topic Graph