Social media leaders called to Downing Street over children's safety

Social media bosses are being summoned to Downing Street on Thursday to discuss children's safety online with the prime minister.

Top executives from Meta, Snap, YouTube, TikTok and X are expected to be questioned by Sir Keir Starmer and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall on what they are doing to protect children and respond to parental concerns.

Sir Keir said the meeting would be about "making sure social media companies step up and take responsibility".

It comes midway through the public consultation called by the government over whether to ban social media for under-16s, following similar measures introduced in Australia.

Downing Street did not confirm who would be representing each of the tech companies attending the meeting.

"The consequences of failing to act are stark," said Starmer.

"We owe it to parents, and to the next generation, to put children's safety first - because they won't forgive us if we don't."

Number 10 said some social media companies had already "stepped up" by putting in place protections like disabling autoplay for children by default and giving more control to parents over screen time.

Prof Gina Neff, head of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge, said the meeting was a way for the government to appear "on the front foot" with the situation.

"This is also letting the government stay strong on online harms in a moment where there's been changing geopolitical pressures on the government to be easy on US companies," she added.

On Wednesday evening, UK MPs rejected calls to ban social media for under-16s, which had been backed by peers in the House of Lords, for a second time.

Ministers argued a ban was premature as the government was already considering introducing its own restrictions and MPs instead voted to give ministers powers to bring in their own rules.

However, Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: "Labour MPs have once again failed parents and children by voting against a ban on social media for under-16s and against removing smartphones from schools.

"Other countries are waking up to the harms, but under Keir Starmer the UK is falling behind."

Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: "The time for half-measures is over - we need action now to restrict the most harmful platforms for under-16s."

Recent research from internet safety charity the Molly Rose Foundation found more than 60% of underage Australians are still using social media despite a ban on under-16s introduced in December 2025.

The charity, which has campaigned against an Australia-style ban in the UK, was established by the family of Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017 at the age of 14 after viewing self-harm and suicide content on platforms including Instagram.

Andy Burrows, chief executive of Molly Rose Foundation, said he welcomed the meeting called by the prime minster but said it should not end with more "hollow promises" from tech bosses.

"Keir Starmer must turn his welcome rhetoric into action with a clear commitment in the King's Speech to a new Online Safety Act that finally calls time on cavalier business models that put profit before safety," he said.

Prof Amy Orben, digital mental health expert at Cambridge University, said it was important the companies and their underlying business models were held to account.

"Social media companies' increasingly powerful algorithms have caused concern across the population, with young people and parents telling us that they experience struggles to disengage from the online world," she said.

The national consultation, which is also looking at potential age restrictions on other services such as gaming sites and AI chatbots, will close on 26 May.

Downing Street said it has already received more than 45,000 responses, alongside some 80 organisations such as schools and community groups.

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