Smartphone ban ‘opportunity to build pressure on tech giants’, says Labour MP

Labour MP Josh MacAlister joined us from Westminster.

Ayshah Tull: The government, in response to our report, has said legislating for an outright ban would remove the autonomy from head teachers. Most schools are already doing this. So what’s the point of your bill?

Josh MacAlister: This is the start of a campaign of persuasion. We’re seeing countries all around the world take bold action to address this issue of children being addicted to doom scrolling and spending far too many hours on their smartphones. The specific measure, it’s only one of the measures that I’m putting forward, but the specific measure about use in schools and making the guidance statutory is backed by teaching unions and it’s backed by a large number of multi-academy trust chief executives, because head teachers want that legal confidence to make it really clear that schools should be phone-free zones.

Ayshah Tull: That’s at school, and as you said, there are countries around the world that are starting to legislate that as well. That’s a popular move. But what about out of school? As soon as you get out of school, kids are on their phones. There’s a risk of cyberbullying, with girls body shaming, all of those sorts of issues. They still have that just after 3.30 or 4.

Josh MacAlister: Exactly. And that’s why the bill proposes raising the age of, effectively, internet adulthood from 13 to 16, to stop social media giants scouring through all that data that feeds algorithms and then pushes content back on kids that keeps them locked on their phones. I want to make sure that if children are going to continue using social media as teenagers on their smartphones, that it’s a much less addictive version of those platforms.

Ayshah Tull: But doesn’t Ian Russell have a point, the father of Molly, he said there’s already an act that’s in place. If you put another act in place, you can muddy the waters and you’re going to take the heat off social media companies where a lot of people say that’s exactly where the heat needs to be.

Josh MacAlister: Ian is absolutely right. And what we need to do is make sure that any measures in the bill that I’m putting forward, and I’m going to be doing lots of work with experts over the next few months, anything in that bill needs to build on the foundations of the Online Safety Act. And actually, this is an opportunity to build the pressure on the tech giants to say, if you don’t take steps now to comprehensively address this issue of addictive use of smartphones, then the calls for a ban, and there are those groups calling for a ban I’m not, but the calls for a ban will only grow. So this is a moment, an opportunity for the tech industry to go even further than the Online Safety Act sets out. But he’s absolutely right, we need to get the Online Safety Act implemented and implemented well.