Member

The amendment before us, proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Nash, gives the Secretary of State discretion to determine which social media apps should be unavailable to under-16s, but equally to opt-in apps which she deems safe. In the coming year, it would be possible for UK tech to have the opportunity to develop such apps. We are not necessarily talking about leaving children and young people in a black hole. However, this is just a beginning; it is not a panacea, and there is much more that we can do. If I was on an NHS computer, organisational protocols would block me from accessing YouTube or other social media apps, so there is no technological reason stopping the development of under-16 devices with national protocols which allow age-appropriate content.