VerbatimParliament, as it happens

Social Media: Children

Asked by Dr Scott ArthurLabourDepartment for Digital, Culture, Media and SportTabled Answered 8 September 2026UIN 24519

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the goal is of the decision to ban under 16s from social media; and how she plans to measure whether that goal has been achieved.

Answered by Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

The Government's aim is to give children a safer, healthier online experience - protecting them from harmful, age-inappropriate content and higher-risk features, while ensuring they benefit from positive and educational experiences online.

We will monitor the implementation of the restrictions carefully and assess whether they are working as intended. Our monitoring and evaluation programme will monitor data on children experiences online, Ofcom evidence, academic studies, and feedback from stakeholder engagement.

Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →

Open this question in Verbatim →

Every written question, searchable

155,000 questions tabled since the election, with the answer each department gave — and the ones still unanswered, with the clock running. Free to search.

Search written questions →Read on Verbatim