Internet safety What the PM has announced

Keir Starmer has not yet given his full backing to a social media ban for under-16s.

- Kiran Stacey Policy editor

But the prime minister yesterday announced measures to restrict the harms ministers believe online platforms are causing to children."As a dad of two teenagers, I know the challenges and the worries parents face making sure their kids are safe online," he said in a statement. Here are the three concrete actions that have been announced by the government.

Starmer has announced a consultation on a minimum age for social media. Before that consultation begins, however, ministers will write a clause into the existing children’s wellbeing and schools bill that will enable them to enforce a ban quickly if the consultation recommends one.

These “Henry VIII” powers allow the government to use secondary legislation to enforce an age limit, rather than writing a new bill. This would speed up the process of enforcing a ban, but critics worry it could undermine parliament’s ability to scrutinise one.