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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced a sweeping ban on social media for under-16s, targeting platforms from TikTok to YouTube. But is it completely unworkable? As VPN demands spike by 165% and critics warn of major digital privacy issues, the policy is already facing intense scrutiny. Plus, we look at the structural decline at the BBC as they announce up to 3,000 brutal job cuts.
#KeirStarmer #SocialMediaBan #OnlineSafety #BBCNews #UKPolitics #BusinessAsUsual
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0:00
Welcome back. Now, Keir Starmer has
0:01
announced a ban on social media for
0:04
under 16s, arguing that platforms are
0:06
harming children's well-being and
0:07
fueling a generation of unhealthy online
0:10
habits, such as listening to Business as
0:12
Usual, I imagine.
0:13
>> A lost generation.
0:15
>> [laughter]
0:15
>> Uh can't be helped.
0:16
>> The ban covers platforms including
0:18
TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, X,
0:20
Facebook, and YouTube. Joining us to
0:23
unpack this unwieldy policy is Saskia
0:26
Coetzee, City A.M.'s tech reporter.
0:28
Saskia, have you read any analysis from
0:30
experts or spoken to any experts yet who
0:33
say this will work?
0:35
>> Um not really. There hasn't been much
0:38
support for the ban. I think a lot of
0:40
people are seeing a positive um sort of
0:44
element that um the responsibility has
0:47
been put in the hands of the platforms
0:50
and not the children. And I think in
0:51
general it's, you know, helping parents
0:53
that feel like they're fighting against
0:55
social media alone. And I think that's
0:56
what, you know, Starmer has been pushing
0:58
for this morning in his announcement.
1:00
But um you know, VPN searches has
1:03
already jumped 165%.
1:05
>> [laughter]
1:07
>> This is when they did the same policy in
1:08
Australia, all the kids just got a VPN.
1:10
>> Well, exactly. And I think there's also
1:12
a major sort of, you know, the age
1:15
verification thing, putting your your
1:17
documents, your ID, your face, all of
1:18
that, the privacy issues that that comes
1:21
with is going to be major for for kids
1:23
trying to to access these platforms.
1:26
>> I suppose the psychology is if you try
1:28
to ban it or you you the government
1:31
signals that this is a bad thing, then
1:33
it will over time slowly decrease and
1:35
like the smoking ban in pubs, you know,
1:37
probably led to a a
1:40
lessening in smoking in the UK overall.
1:43
>> Yeah.
1:43
>> Um but I thought it was striking that I
1:45
heard numerous voices on the radio on
1:48
Monday uh from Australia saying this
1:51
hasn't worked.
1:52
>> No. Doesn't look like it has. I also
1:54
think there's a bit of a danger maybe of
1:56
now the platforms thinking, "Okay,
1:58
there's been a ban. We're kind of our
2:00
job is done." And they therefore they
2:02
don't have to fix their harmful systems
2:03
that have been notoriously kind of
2:05
keeping people on the platform.
2:06
>> Which actually I think they're just
2:07
still on the platforms.
2:08
>> Well, exactly. And also
2:09
>> So we're living in a wild west more so
2:11
than ever before.
2:11
>> Also, just because you're 16 doesn't
2:13
mean
2:14
then the harm isn't there. Do you know
2:15
what I mean? So like whether they can
2:17
access it
2:19
I feel pretty harmed myself. But I think
2:20
if you turn 16 and then you can access
2:22
these platforms, who then thinks they've
2:25
done all the right things because
2:26
they've don't have kids on there?
2:28
That creates a whole new kind of
2:29
>> crazy as well that YouTube is involved
2:31
in this. Because like there is no DM
2:33
function on YouTube. There's it's
2:35
there's just no way that and also like
2:37
for kids, I mean maybe it's the same for
2:39
us as well. We're a bit older than them,
2:41
but we're quite a bit older than them.
2:43
But [laughter]
2:43
they really do see that as just TV.
2:45
>> Yeah.
2:46
>> And so that's the reason they don't
2:46
really watch TV. They don't really
2:47
engage in streaming in the same way that
2:49
we do in terms of Netflix or Amazon
2:50
Prime.
2:51
>> It's also educational.
2:52
>> There are GCSE courses and stuff on
2:54
there that that help you sort of get
2:55
through your exams.
2:56
>> You could say that about a lot of
2:56
platforms.
2:57
>> But it's but it's quite a one-way track
2:59
I think YouTube in terms of like kids
3:00
are probably there just to consume
3:02
media. It already has more robust
3:04
parental controls than almost any other
3:06
platform. It also has its own YouTube
3:08
Kids section. I'm not sure if that's
3:09
specifically involved in the ban.
3:10
>> when we upload a video to YouTube from
3:12
the City AM channel, it's is this made
3:14
for kids? Is it made for adults? Is
3:15
there any kind of other are there any
3:17
adult elements in it or whatever? I mean
3:20
>> Do you think the addictive kind of
3:21
portion of of the ban which is, you
3:24
know, a big reason why they banned it?
3:25
You know, there was that trial in the US
3:27
about you know, a girl who was addicted
3:28
to to social media. I think that is very
3:31
much a concern for YouTube. YouTube has
3:33
YouTube Shorts which is exactly, you
3:36
know, formatted in the exact same way
3:38
algorithmically than TikTok. And I
3:39
think, you know, keeps young people and
3:41
you know, adults as well on the platform
3:44
for ages and is kind of constructed to
3:45
do so. And I think that is probably why
3:47
they came under the ban as well.
3:49
>> YouTube is also a big part of the
3:52
plan for the BBC to connect young people
3:54
back up to its programming. The BBC also
3:57
on Monday announced, I think something
3:59
between two and 3,000 job cuts. What do
4:01
you make of that news?
4:03
>> I mean, it's the second time they've
4:04
done that in in the past kind of 12
4:06
months.
4:07
And you know, they've said they need to
4:08
make savings cuz of various financial
4:10
pressures and uncertainty
4:14
on its, you know, future financial
4:17
model. So, we'll see.
4:18
>> Well, it'll be interesting to see what
4:20
the ex-Google UK chief who now is
4:22
running the BBC makes of today's news.
4:25
But Saskia, thank you very much. I'm
4:26
sure we'll have you back on the podcast
4:28
very soon to discuss more as the story
4:30
unravels.
4:30
>> Thanks for having me.
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