Our response to the social media ban announcement

Ripple Suicide Prevention Charity welcomes the fact that the Andy Burnham government has committed to implementing the social media ban for under 16s alongside a timeline for implementation announced at Labour Conference this year. This sets out a clear intention to protect children and young people from online harms and we welcome the upcoming March 2027 deadline.

We will await further details on implementation, but we want to be clear that social media giants cannot be allowed to drag their feet on deployment of the ban and must not be allowed to evade responsibility should children continue to access social media freely.

This momentary relief is predicated on the government’s determination to stand up to big tech. If substantial fines or criminal liability are not on the cards for social media leaders, then this ban will do more harm than good.