As governments across the globe move to restrict under-16s’ access to social media, the debate over where to draw the line has never been more urgent. Australia has already legislated. The UK is weighing its options following the “Growing Up in the Online World” consultation. But will blanket age restrictions protect young people from online harms, or simply displace the problem? Does keeping under-16s off mainstream platforms shield them, or does it strip away the very environments where media and digital literacy is built? Could a ban inadvertently push young users toward less regulated corners of the internet, where exposure to harmful content is harder to track and counter?
Bringing together voices from policy, platform governance, and academic research, we’ll weigh the trade-offs between protection and empowerment, and ask what a genuinely effective approach to online safety looks like for the next generation.
The speakers for this event can be found below:
- Clare Rewcastle Brown — Investigative journalist and founder, Sarawak Report
- Damian Collins OBE — Former Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy, and Chair of the Online Safety Bill Committee
- Thomas Barton — Executive Director, Council for Countering Online Disinformation
- Charlton Brown — Programme Coordinator & Impact Lead, Shout Out UK
- This conversation will be chaired by Professor Charlie Beckett, Author, Professor, and Founding Director of Polis at LSE