Liz Kendall MP: speeches

Speeches

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  Yes, absolutely. The Department has already published new help and guidance for parents on how to talk to children about their life online. That will need to be done differently at different ages, and it is sometimes difficult to talk to children about this. The ban will support parents in doing the right thing, but I recognise that this will be a big change for many children and young people, and of course we want to do everything we can to support them through it.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have made great strides, with the £500 million in our Youth Matters national youth strategy, on rejuvenating our youth services and giving more access to sport and the arts. The Department for Education has a new enrichment framework that will help schools and colleges. It will be backed by a £22 million enrichment programme—there will be details soon—to help 400 schools in England create an excellent offer on enrichment. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is also investing an additional £130 million in activities such as arts and culture, sport and physical activities, adventure and life skills, and much more besides.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  I have to admit that I am not sure whether the hon. Lady is for or against the ban. [ Interruption. ] She is a Lib Dem, say Members on the Conservative Benches. She asked about the model. In my statement, I said that it is the Australian model. We have learned the lessons, which is why we are focusing on more highly effective age-assurance measures. To be clear, there has to be rigorous enforcement, including of more risky sites. That is what I have talked about wanting Ofcom to do. We have taken powers in the Children Act 1989 to implement the results of this consultation, which includes restrictions on features and functions. One important issue is that if we restrict some features and functions, the companies will come up with others, but the powers in that Act allow us to move more quickly. One thing that has struck me is that we cannot take eight years over this, because technology is changing so fast. I am always happy to talk to Members. Let me finish with the point about the Prime Minister. He believed in having this consultation, because there are different views. It has been a good thing to do, because the result is clear. There is not a rush; this is a deeply thought-through policy programme. I hope that the hon. Lady will rise above party politics and work with us to get it right, but I might be holding my breath.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  There is a process that we normally go through when regulations are laid, and there is a certain amount of time for parliamentary scrutiny. I am trying to balance giving Members a say on the regulations—looking at them, and ensuring that we have got them right and that they are going to work—with cracking on as soon as possible. I would still say that early 2027 is much quicker than the time it normally takes for a whole Bill to go through Parliament, but I do hear my hon. Friend’s determination to push this policy forward, and I will do what I can do get it over the line as quickly as possible.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  We want to provide the very best advice and support, based on the evidence, to parents, and also through schools.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  We are doing this to give greater protections to children and greater clarity to parents and carers, and to set a new social norm for future generations. My intention is to lay before the House regulations on a ban, and to have a vote on them by the end of this year, with the ban coming into effect in early 2027. We plan to use the same model as Australia, covering user-to-user platforms that allow users to post material alongside algorithms. Our ban will include platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. Because we want to make sure that we do not include educational services, e-commerce or music streaming platforms, there will be a narrowly defined list of exemptions, which we will keep under review. I have listened to parents, civil society and many MPs in this House, including my hon. Friends the Members for Putney (Fleur Anderson), for Lowestoft (Jess Asato), for Congleton (Sarah Russell), and for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah), about the need to go further, and I can today announce our first steps to restrict a wider range of features and functions that create risks for young people. Because it can open the door to vile child abuse, we will ban livestreaming for under-16s across all platforms. We will ban communication with strangers, including in gaming, to stop paedophiles meeting and grooming children. We are not stopping there. Artificial intelligence chatbots were a top concern of parents who responded to our consultation, particularly chatbots that mimic intimate relationships and exploit vulnerabilities. The Children’s Commissioner and my hon. Friends the Members for Aylesbury (Laura Kyrke-Smith) and for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington) have also raised this issue. Today, Britain becomes the first country in the world to ban chatbots that offer sexualised content to under-18s, and we will restrict this functionality on general-purpose chatbots too. We know that there are really serious concerns about other AI chatbots, such as in therapy apps, but I recognise that some of those may have benefits, so I am working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and others to assess the evidence, and I will come back to the House to give a further statement next month on this issue, and on wider measures on AI chatbots. We want to address concerns that there will be a cliff edge when a child turns 16—an age when young people should be especially focused on their future and exams. I can announce that livestreaming and stranger communication, including in gaming, will be switched off by default for 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds. I am also strongly minded to bring in default overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds. I will set out further details in my next statement in July, once our pilot schemes are finished. I know that not everyone supports a ban, and I have listened carefully to the concerns and want to take each in turn. First, we have seen in Australia that many children will try to get around a ban, and succeed. That is inevitable when social media has been such an integral part of their life. We will introduce more highly effective age-assurance measures better to support compliance, and I have asked Ofcom to share proposals on that within months. However, I want to be clear to parents, and to Members of the House, that our ban is as much about helping future generations, and resetting social norms in future, as it is about young people today. Secondly, people worry that a ban would push children on to riskier, less regulated sites, and that is something that I take extremely seriously. I have had a long conversation with Ofcom and its new chair, and have written to them to stress once again that enforcement of the Online Safety Act 2023 and our new ban must be a top priority. Ofcom must focus rigorously on that, including in relation to riskier sites, and I have asked for an urgent review of whether it has the right capabilities in place. I have also asked Ofcom to publish a clear enforcement strategy, and an annual report to Parliament on how the strategy is progressing. Thirdly, we must prepare children for the online world, which will inevitably be part of their life. Many schools are already doing that, but from September this year, every pupil across England will learn about social media in the classroom, including AI and how to spot deepfakes. My Department has produced new advice for parents on how to talk to children about the online world. It is called, “You won’t know if you don’t ask”. This is schools and parents together preparing children for the future. Lastly but by no means least, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and my hon. Friends the Members for Kettering (Rosie Wrighting), for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean), and for North West Cambridgeshire (Sam Carling) have rightly raised the importance of ensuring that all young people can access information, trusted support and exciting activities, especially if they are no longer spending so much time online. We are delivering on that, too. The Secretaries of State for Education and for Culture, Media and Sport are expanding what is on offer in every school and beyond the classroom, including after-school clubs in the holidays and at weekends. There is support for a wide range of enrichment activities, such as art, music, sport, cooking, camping and museum visits—things that were once available only to those who could afford them, but are now available to every pupil in England. In stark contrast to Conservative Members, who cut youth services by 75%, we are investing £500 million in our “Youth Matters” national youth strategy, so that children from all walks of life, wherever they live, can access youth services, sport and the arts. My driving force, and the reason I came into politics, has always been and will always be to give every child, from every background, the best possible start in life, because that is how they and our country succeed. Today, we take a decisive step towards creating a safer, healthier life for our children and future generations. We are giving children their childhood back. I am clear-eyed about all the challenges that social media brings, for adults as well as children, and technology constantly changes. Today’s announcement is not “one and done”, or the end of the story. There is still much more to do, but this is a landmark day—a day when we stand with parents, charities, bereaved families, and all those who have campaigned for change. This is your moment. It is a day when we take power away from the tech giants, who have had countless opportunities to keep children safe, and put it in back in parents’ hands. It is a day when we give our children the freedom to be children again, so that they have the best possible start in life. I commend this statement to the House.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  We will bring in highly effective age-verification measures, because we want to ensure that we learn the lessons from what has happened in Australia. The Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Kanishka Narayan), who has responsibility for online safety, went to learn all those lessons. There is much more that we will be saying as we draft the regulations and take this forward, but in my view that is one of the big lessons. However, I want to be honest about this: kids will get around this. Kids have always got around smoking and drinking—we have all done it. Maybe not! [ Laughter. ] That is what kids do.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  As I said earlier, we have the ability under the Children Act to restrict certain features and functions. That is why we are able to say that we will ban live streaming and stranger communication for those under 16, and that we will have that turned off by default for 16 and 17-year-olds. We do not want all gaming to come under a blanket ban, but if we think particular functions are a risk to children, as we know stranger communication is with gaming, we will act.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  As I said in response to an earlier question, this was the issue that I wanted to grapple with the most. People want to find people who love in the same way, or who like the same things, and they may be worried about doing so where they live with their friends. This is hugely important. There is potential for a life online that still enables those things to happen, but just not on the social media platforms. I want to continue working with my hon. Friend, for whom I have the greatest respect, and the Department for Education to ensure that the chances that social media offered to some are still in place for people who want to experience and believe in different things. We want to give everybody the freedom to express who they are.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  I am glad that the hon. Lady said at the end of her question that she will work with us to ensure that we implement this policy effectively. That is extremely important. I absolutely agree that the policy is a win for all the parents who have campaigned for it, especially the bereaved families, who have had to relive the horror of what has happened time and time again. The hon. Lady made some comments about the Prime Minister. Let me be really clear: we are moving so swiftly on this matter precisely because the bereaved families have said to us, “The longer you leave change, the worse it can be for children.” I have really taken that to heart and moved as quickly as possible. It was right to have the consultation, and not just because there are different views, but because what we have heard is so overwhelming. That builds supports for the ban and I hope it means that when we implement the ban, it will last. The Online Safety Act took eight years from the initial idea to its implementation. The fact that this Government have taken powers in the Children Act 1989 means that we can implement this policy much more quickly. As I said, I want a vote on it by the end of the year, and I want it to come into force as early as possible, in the first couple of months of 2027. The hon. Lady asked about Ofcom’s enforcement, resources and capabilities. I have asked it to conduct an urgent review. It should first look at its own resources before coming to Parliament to ask for more, but I will look at what it says. The hon. Lady also asked about the model that we are following. We plan to follow the model of Australia, and that covers not just the companies I named in my statement, but others. That is publicly available information. The hon. Lady rightly asked about highly effective age-assurance measures. She will know that they are already covered for adults in the Online Safety Act. Not all of them are appropriate for children, so we have asked Ofcom to look at this issue as quickly as possible and to come up with something that will work. That is really important, but, as she will know, having read the Online Safety Act, privacy is absolutely at the heart of those measures. There are really strict requirements about any data collected, what it is used for and how it should be deleted. The measure regarding AI chatbots is for those aged 18 and under, because we think there are parallels there with issues such as pornography. The hon. Lady asked about comments I put out on X last week on essentially incitement to violence online. If somebody incites violence online, it is the same as inciting violence offline, and that is not acceptable. This week in Parliament we are laying Ofcom’s updated code of practice about what to do in crisis moments, which is essentially to take down illegal material. I think most people in this country would agree that if somebody breaks the law and incites violence, they should face the full consequences, whether it is online or offline, and I support that. I know that in this House there is normally a lot of theatre around the politics—I understand that, as that is what this place is like—but the vast majority of Members support a ban. I hope we can all work together, because parents, no matter their politics, want the same thing. Let us crack on with the job.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is right to raise the issue of enforcement. That is why I have specifically asked the new incoming chair of Ofcom to hold an urgent review of its capabilities, to ensure that it focuses rigorously on enforcement—including on riskier sites, in case children go off the main platforms and go further underground—and to publish a clear strategy and a proper report to Parliament on how that enforcement is going. In the end, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. There is obviously overwhelming support among parents, teachers, the police and others for an outright ban; then there are those who say that we just need to restrict certain features and functions. The truth is if that if we dealt only with the features and functions, the tech companies would come up with another feature and another function, and then another one—and another one, and another one. We are saying, “No, this is the line in the sand. No one under 16 on these.” If there are specific features and functions that go beyond social media, such as in gaming or on other sites, we want to restrict those, too. I hope that the new powers in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 will allow us to be more agile, but if they do not, I will always look again, because we have to keep up with how technology is changing.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  Yes, I agree that the responsibility is on the platforms. They have to continue meeting their obligations under the Online Safety Act, as well as this ban. They have had chances to make their platforms safe, but they have not done so. That is why we are saying, “You can’t provide them to children anymore.”

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  Yes. I have had detailed conversations with the Culture Secretary and the Education Secretary about all these issues. There is much more to do, but we are determined to give children the very best start in life, and the freedom to be children again.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  For the good people of Redditch and the rest of the country, yes, I will.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  I am glad that my hon. Friend believes his constituents will support this action. The Minister for Online Safety spent a week in Australia learning the lessons, including about how kids are getting around the ban. That is why we have already said that we want more highly effective age-assurance measures. I will come back to VPNs and young people in July; it is really important that we continue this discussion. We want this action to be as effective as possible, but we need to help parents with younger children to begin to shift the social norms. What happens is this: the kids really want it—all their friends are on it—so even if parents set their boundaries and rules, they are under constant pressure. We are just saying, “We’re on your side. We’re going to help you do the right thing for your kids.”

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  Absolutely. This is about the social media companies putting their house in order. Lots of people have said, “Won’t you bow to pressure? You’ll cave under it.” I hope that today, we are showing our intention: we want a better life for children; we want to put power into parents’ hands; and we want to reset social norms. That is what this Government are absolutely determined to do.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend for her question; she has campaigned tirelessly on this. The model in Australia that we plan to use captures user-to-user platforms that have enabling social interaction as their sole purpose, or a significant purpose, and that allow users to post material, alongside algorithms and recommender actions. The model that we plan to follow is precisely about saying that children cannot access social media platforms that can be defined in that way. I think that is a big step forward. I know that she would like us to look at this further, and I am always open to discussion, because as I have said, I am very aware of all the other issues, and we want to take action where we can.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  This is a wake-up call for the companies: “You had your chance. You didn’t fulfil your existing obligations under the law. Enough.” That is really important for us to say. They will remain responsible for fulfilling their obligations under British laws to remove illegal content and to remove harmful content for children. That is hugely important. We stood up to Grok, X and Elon Mus, saying, “Enough is enough.” We are now drawing a line in the sand now, too.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that we are not including things like WhatsApp in this policy. Parents have been clear that they want to be able to contact their children, but we want to block strangers being able to communicate with children. We will be setting out all the details in our regulations, and he knows that I will be more than happy to talk him through the details. The messaging services are not covered by the ban, but if they have features and functions—as they do—that allow strangers to communicate with children, we want to deal with that. We will be coming forward with further detail.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a huge champion, and has pushed hard, for many of these measures and many more besides. The ban links to the device-level interventions we have talked about, but this ban will be for under-16s. It is important that we set that clear limit. On the device proposals, I am very clear that we expect the companies to act, and we will legislate.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  Alongside the matter of supporting young people who might like things or live or love in a different way, another thing that I am really concerned about is the question of how they actually connect with people—that trusted support is really important. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working hard to boost things like mentoring and support services, and has just announced £10 million for a new youth opportunity programme with the King’s Trust and Sir Gareth Southgate. There is more that we can do there. I am more than happy to talk to the hon. Gentleman about his ideas, because we have to ensure that people can get trusted advice easily. On balance, though, I feel that the risks of social media exploiting vulnerabilities outweigh the potential benefits. Let us try to find a way through.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  I am really glad that my hon. Friend has raised this issue. There was an important point in the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges’ response precisely about the physical health implications, as well as mental health implications, for young people. She will know that we have already published guidance on screen time use for under-fives, and we are currently reviewing it for five to 16 year-olds. I listened carefully to that medical evidence, and that is one of the reasons that we are taking this action—although, of course, I know that there will be more to do.

• 15 Jun 2026 · Social Media Ban for Under-16s · Hansard source

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  I am so sorry to hear about what happened to Leo. I heard what my hon. Friend describes so many times during the course of the consultation, and many of the representations we had—from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal College of General Practitioners and others—raised precisely the issues that she talks about. One of the reasons why the ban is so important is that we must protect children from those serious harms. Two thirds of GPs and two thirds of hospital clinicians say that every single week they see something that they think is a direct consequence of social media. That is a wake-up call to us all.