Senedd rejects call to ban under-16s from social media
A Senedd motion calling on the UK Government to restrict social media access for children under 16 was opposed by Labour and Plaid Cymru following a debate on Tuesday.
The motion, tabled in the name of Paul Davies MS (Welsh Conservative, Preseli Pembrokeshire) and moved by Natasha Asghar MS (Welsh Conservative, South Wales East), urged ministers in Westminster to introduce age restrictions on social media platforms.
Opening the debate, Ms Asghar said social media had become “a breeding ground for harm, bullying, addiction and anxiety” and was “putting our children at unnecessary risk”.
She told Members: “That is why we are proposing a ban on social media for the under-16s.”
Citing polling and international examples, she added: “Other countries around the world have already started to wake up and act.”
During the debate, Sam Rowlands MS (Welsh Conservative, North Wales) said children were now spending “almost three hours online every single day” and warned that “a significant chunk of their waking day is being spent online in a space that is not being properly protected.”
Peter Fox MS (Welsh Conservative, Monmouth) said he was speaking “more as a grandfather” and questioned whether society would accept young children being placed “into an unsupervised space full of strangers” offline.
However, an amendment tabled by Jane Hutt MS (Labour, Vale of Glamorgan) and formally moved by Lynne Neagle MS (Labour, Torfaen), Cabinet Secretary for Education, replaced the motion with a call to welcome the UK Government’s forthcoming consultation.
The amended motion recognised the need for “evidence-based decisions” and for social media companies to be held responsible for harmful content.
Responding to the debate, Ms Neagle said: “There is no doubt that social media can expose children to significant harm.”
But she cautioned against what she described as “simplistic solutions”, adding: “Determining the right minimum age for children to access social media is far more nuanced and complex.”
Cefin Campbell MS (Plaid Cymru, Mid and West Wales) said his party would support the Welsh Government’s amendment.
He told the chamber: “It’s very easy to rush to find solutions or to make easy headlines, but what we have to do is take our time.”
Mr Campbell added that safeguarding children was “a wider problem than issuing restrictions or bans without full clarity on how to implement and enforce them.”
James Evans MS (Welsh Conservative, Brecon and Radnorshire) said he shared concerns about harm but warned of unintended consequences.
He said: “We have to be very careful when we go straight to banning anything without looking at the unintended consequences of doing things.”
The original motion was not agreed without amendment and voting was deferred until voting time.
In a statement issued after the debate, Ms Asghar said: “Social media is having a profoundly harmful impact on children’s mental health, behaviour and capacity to learn.”
She added: “Unfortunately, Labour and Plaid Cymru chose to vote against our motion to protect children from those harms.”
The debate comes amid wider UK discussions about age verification, online safety enforcement and the implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023.
For families across Flintshire and Deeside, where concerns about online bullying, safeguarding and classroom behaviour have been raised by schools and parents in recent years, any future changes to social media rules could have implications for pupils and local education settings.
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