Social media firms could face “humongous” fines if they fail to block the accounts of under-13s, the technology secretary has said.
Michelle Donelan made the comments on the eve of the long-awaited online safety bill returning to parliament for its final stages on Wednesday after numerous delays.
Donelan said she wanted a “zero tolerance” approach to children using social media, telling the Daily Telegraph: “If that means deactivating the accounts of nine-year-olds or eight-year-olds, then they’re going to have to do that.
“Because otherwise the mental toll and the ramifications for these young people is unimaginable and we’re just storing up a bigger problem for tomorrow in terms of the long-term impact that we are going to face.”
Under the bill, the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, will have powers to fine companies up to 10% of their global turnover if they fail to include effective checks to enforce age limits in their terms and conditions.
The watchdog could also prosecute company bosses who persistently breach their duty with a maximum penalty of up to two years in jail.
It will publish a draft code of practice before Christmas that will “raise the threshold” for the “appropriate” checks that will be required to prevent under-13s accessing social media platforms.
The legislation has faced repeated delays and amendments after a backlash from some in the tech industry who argued the law will undermine the use of encryption to keep online communications private.
Donelan said the bill, scheduled to complete its passage through parliament on 19 October, would “potentially save young people’s lives” by protecting children from harmful content such as that featuring self-harm and pornographic material.
She acknowledged that the rules laid out in social media firms’ terms and conditions were currently not being enforced.
“We’ve got kids as young as nine, eight-year-olds on social media platforms and also accessing things like pornography,” she said.
“We can’t expect these young children to grow up and be able to live happy, successful lives unless we’re setting them up right. That is important.”
She added: “If the [companies] are found by the regulator to be allowing young people on their platform below the age of 13, they could face these massive, humongous fines.”
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it had introduced measures such as video age verification tests as part of efforts to remove under-13s from its platforms.
Snapchat said it was deleting accounts and blocking sign-up attempts by tens of thousands of under-13s every month.
