First Minister supports drive to increase safety for kids on social media

Scotland's First Minister has backed a drive for greater online safety for children - but stopped short of supporting calls for an under-16s social media ban.

- CRAIG PATON, PA SCOTLAND

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is the latest person to call for a ban as she labelled the internet the “wild west” and insisted age limits should be brought in.

Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and Snapchat are very popular with young people.

Speaking to the Press Association, John Swinney accepted there were “many strengths” to social media but also “many risks and threats”.

“I think what this debate is prompting,” he said, “and what I feel as the parent of a teenage son, which I know is discussed by me with other parents of teenagers, is the importance of making sure they are at all times safe.