The status quo isn’t working; social media platforms aren’t prioritising children’s safety online.

For all the joy and happiness it brings us, parenthood also presents challenges. It always has done – but, as the father of three young children, I know that protecting them from online harm is one of the newest and biggest worries for all of us who are parents. It’s a topic my wife and I discuss frequently.

The government’s consultation on restricting children’s access to mobile phones and social media, to which over 45,000 people have already responded, opened last month. We are keen to build a national consensus and I urge everybody, especially parents and young people, to contribute your thoughts and views.

Any measures the government takes will be led by the evidence. So, alongside the consultation, it has launched social media “pilots” which will allow a range of options – such as an Australia-style ban on social media for under-16s, overnight social media curfews, and capping access to popular apps like TikTok and Instagram to one hour per day – to be tested in 300 homes around the country.

Based on the evidence I’ve seen, I believe the status quo isn’t working; social media platforms aren’t prioritising children’s safety online.

As a member of the House of Commons’ Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, I was appalled by the evidence presented by organisations, such as the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, about how social media algorithms push extreme content, such as promoting eating disorders and anorexia. Such content can cause lasting harm to young people at one of the most difficult and vulnerable stages of their lives. The most frequent users of social media are 13-15 year-olds, with 96 percent having their own profiles.

I’m also deeply concerned too about the addictive nature of some social media content – the Children’s Commissioner for England, for instance, warned our committee that ad-based models, such as gaming sites, use design features to keep users online for as long as possible – and the problem of cyberbullying online. As Ofcom’s latest report underlines, over one-third of children and young people say they have experienced “nasty or hurtful interactions” online.

There are also important questions about the privacy of our children online. By introducing age verification, the Online Safety Act is ensuring children see fewer harmful posts online. I just don’t understand why Nigel Farage and Reform want to scrap these vital protections. By contrast, the government’s social media consultation will look at how age verification enforcement should be strengthened.

At the same time, the government recognises that many children watch videos online for schoolwork and learning, while others use platforms to access support and advice, and to connect with others their own age.

My priority is to give children the best start to life. That’s about decent childcare, raising school standards, and ensuring no child grows up in poverty. And, increasingly, it’s now also about finding a way to make children’s experience online as healthy, happy and worthwhile as possible, while protecting them from all that is poisonous, troublesome and threatening about social media