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Online Safety
08 September 2026
Lead MP
Lisa Nandy
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
EconomyScience & TechnologyWomen & EqualitiesParliamentary Procedure
Other Contributors: 37
At a Glance
Lisa Nandy raised concerns about online safety in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
EconomyScience & TechnologyWomen & EqualitiesParliamentary Procedure
Government Statement
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the next steps that this Government will be taking to protect children online. Our ambition is to lead in shaping an online environment that is safe, enabling and empowering. This involves fixing the fundamentals and acting more decisively to keep us safe online. The Government's December action plan aims to tackle violence against women and girls and make it impossible for children to take, share or view nude images online. In June, we challenged industry to work on a three-month timeline to strengthen device-level protections. Today, I report progress: Apple and Google have provided significant commitments to prevent child sexual abuse and strengthen online protections. However, current measures do not meet the scale of the crisis, with 91% of child sexual abuse images self-generated by children, and 9,000 child sexual abuse offences annually involving an online element. We will introduce primary legislation to require tech platforms to build in device-level protections for children and prevent children from accessing or sharing nudity on apps. This will make Britain the first country to go this far and a world leader in online safety, sending a clear message to tech companies that planning must now become implementation and progress must translate into protections. We are not bystanders when it comes to children’s safety.
Rebecca Paul
Con
Wycombe
Question
The Secretary of State’s assessment is that progress has not been good enough, so the House needs to know exactly what will happen next. We have heard a commitment to primary legislation, but “as soon as we can” is not yet a timetable. When does the Secretary of State expect to introduce the legislation? She has also said that the Government may reassess whether legislation is necessary if companies make sufficient progress in the meantime. What precisely would constitute sufficient progress and who will make that judgment?
Minister reply
The Government recognises the urgency of the issue and will introduce the legislation as soon as we can. We will reassess whether legislation is necessary if companies make sufficient progress. The assessment will be based on the extent of the measures implemented and the pace of progress.
Rebecca Paul
Con
Wycombe
Question
Is the aim for these planned protections to apply only to new phones and tablets, or will companies be expected, wherever technically possible, to push them through software updates to devices already in use? Millions of phones are in young hands at this very moment. Protecting only the next generation of devices would leave a large gap. Where older devices cannot support these measures, what assessment has the Secretary of State made of the scale of that problem?
Minister reply
The aim is for protections to apply to new devices, but we will work with companies to ensure that existing devices are also protected wherever technically possible. We recognise the scale of the challenge in protecting older devices and will work closely with industry to address this.
Rebecca Paul
Con
Wycombe
Question
The Secretary of State said today that “there is a central role for Government in shaping…technology for good”. Can the Secretary of State therefore confirm that the under-16s social media restrictions remain on course for early 2027, and that the necessary age assurance and enforcement arrangements will be ready in time?
Minister reply
The under-16s social media restrictions remain on course for early 2027, and we are working to ensure that the necessary age assurance and enforcement arrangements will be ready in time. The Government recognises the importance of robust age assurance and enforcement arrangements to ensure the effectiveness of these restrictions.
Salford and Eccles
Question
The hon. Member welcomed the statement, noting the importance of device-level protections, particularly preventing children from taking or sharing nude images. She asked for more detail on the timeline for legislation, criteria for sufficient progress by tech companies to avoid legislation, and the scope of device-level protections to be applied to older devices. She also sought clarity on the Government's role in shaping technology for good and confirmed that under-16s social media restrictions are on track for early 2027.
Minister reply
The Secretary of State thanked the hon. Member and committed to ironing out the details to ensure legislation is introduced without delay. She stated that legislation is almost certain due to the lack of progress by tech companies. The protections will apply to phones and tablets, and the Government is exploring extension to other devices. She explained the Government's role in ensuring trusted information and empowering individuals online, and confirmed the social media ban for under-16s will come into effect in early 2027.
Liz Kendall
Lab
Leicester West
Question
The right hon. Member welcomed the announcement, expressing pride in the Government's action on device-level protections and confirmed the timetable for the social media ban for under-16s. She asked for more information on the timetable for other proposals such as AI chatbots, overnight curfews, and bans on doomscrolling for older children.
Minister reply
The Secretary of State thanked her right hon. Friend and confirmed that a comprehensive system is being looked at, without delay. While a full package by the end of the year may not be possible, significant progress is expected, with a robust and comprehensive package in place by this time next year.
Anna Sabine
LD
Frome and East Somerset
Question
Asked about the commitment to develop legislation regardless of the actions of tech companies and the need to address privacy concerns. She also inquired about the challenges around end-to-end encrypted services.
Minister reply
Confirmed that legislation would be developed regardless of the action taken by companies and that privacy concerns would not be ignored. The minister welcomed cross-party discussion on end-to-end encrypted services and stressed the importance of protecting children.
Jess Phillips
Lab
Birmingham, Yardley
Question
Stressed the importance of the 'take' element in preventing children from taking images in the first place. She also highlighted the need for international cooperation to ensure global protection.
Minister reply
Acknowledged the importance of the 'take' element and expressed appreciation for Jess Phillips' support. The minister committed to working with international partners to ensure global protection of children.
Gosport
Question
Asked about the enforcement of the policy, including compliance monitoring and sanctions for non-compliance.
Minister reply
Acknowledged the concerns about enforcement of the Online Safety Act and committed to working with Ofcom to improve enforcement. The minister emphasised the need to address the issue from every angle to keep children safe.
Question
Asked for assurance that the government would continue to press companies to act with urgency and moral leadership while the legislation is being developed.
Minister reply
Emphasised the moral and social responsibilities of companies and expressed the urgency to address the issue quickly. The minister committed to legislating if necessary to uphold responsibilities to children.
Jeremy Wright
Con
Kenilworth and Southam
Question
Welcomed the intent and urgency but expressed concern about the compatibility of measures with responsibilities under the Online Safety Act, requesting a meeting to discuss in detail.
Minister reply
Offered to meet Jeremy Wright to discuss the compatibility of measures with the Online Safety Act in detail.
Tahir Ali
Lab
Hyndburn
Question
Children are being exposed daily to violent and harmful content online, and the number has barely moved since the Act’s child safety duties came into force. What measures will be taken to address this issue immediately?
Minister reply
The Minister acknowledges the concern and states that she is looking at the issue of chatbots and strengthening the law to ensure better protection for children from all forms of exposure to harmful content.
Vikki Slade
Con
Blackpool North and Cleveleys
Question
What measures can the Government take to hold tech companies accountable for posts that put the safety of children and adults at risk through doxxing?
Minister reply
The Minister has had discussions with tech companies regarding the issue of doxxing and mentions the Government's concern about the safety of rescuers and shop workers who have been targeted. She commits to working with the MP to address the issue.
Chris Kane
Lab
Bolton West
Question
What ongoing conversations will the Secretary of State have with tech companies while the primary legislative clock is ticking?
Minister reply
The Minister pays tribute to the constituent and acknowledges ongoing discussions with tech companies. She emphasises the need for faster progress and commits to taking action to address the issue.
Ashley Fox
Con
Beaconsfield
Question
How will the Secretary of State ensure that children using devices with older operating systems are fully protected?
Minister reply
The Minister states that officials are currently exploring solutions to protect children using older devices and commits to working with colleagues to address the issue. She also mentions that protections against sharing nude images will take effect immediately.
Alex McIntyre
Lab
Wyre and Preston North
Question
Will the Secretary of State not accept any argument that it is too expensive or difficult to stop children from taking nude images and sending them to people?
Minister reply
The Minister strongly supports the idea that there is no excuse for tech companies not taking action to stop children from taking and sending nude images. She mentions the disturbing nature of the issue and commits to continuing to innovate and take steps as technology develops.
Kirsty Blackman
SNP
Aberdeen North
Question
Will the Secretary of State consider banning children’s accounts from livestreaming regardless of whether it involves nude images?
Minister reply
The Minister thanks the hon. Lady for her long-standing campaigning on the issue and commits to looking at the issue seriously. She will ask her officials to come back to her and reach out to the hon. Lady for a proper conversation about it.
Tom Collins
Lab
West Bromwich East
Question
Will the Secretary of State meet the hon. Member to discuss a product safety approach to address digitally enabled child sexual exploitation?
Minister reply
The Minister is happy to meet the hon. Friend to discuss the issue. She emphasises the need for a broad approach that includes traditional law enforcement.
Julian Lewis
Con
New Forest East
Question
How does the age assurance system work, and what would prevent a parent from allowing a child to use their phone under their identity?
Minister reply
The Minister explains that the new systems require a form of ID to prove age, which is different from the current practice of ticking a box or putting in a birth date. She mentions the need to revisit safeguards to ensure they are effective.
Andrew Lewin
Lab
Rother Valley
Question
The MP commends the minister for her statement and her decision to leave Elon Musk’s X platform, expressing concerns about the platform's amplification of extremist content and the need for alternative ways to communicate on social media.
Minister reply
The minister states that it is a personal decision and that Members of the House should be free to decide how and where they communicate. She personally did not want to encourage more people to use a platform she believes has become more of a force for harm than for good.
Brent Central
Question
The MP welcomes the Secretary of State’s announcements and asks for clarity on the work being done to define and enforce a ban on sexualised AI chatbots for under-18s, as well as whether the legislation will cover this issue.
Minister reply
The minister acknowledges the complexity of the issue and states that they are working to ensure they get it right, with an approach to strengthen the protections in this area, given recent developments and the limitations of previous protections. She is determined to address this gap in the child safety protection system.
Emily Darlington
Lab
Wansbeck
Question
The MP calls for technology companies to implement software updates to protect children as soon as possible, and urges the minister to promise legislation within the year if these companies do not act quickly.
Minister reply
The minister supports the urgency and importance of the issue, stating they will move as fast as possible to resolve the situation and will not unduly delay. She also supports the obligations on technology companies to do more.
Carla Lockhart
Con
Erewash
Question
The MP raises concerns regarding highly sexualised images appearing in children’s games online and asks whether the new Secretary of State can commit to looking at in-game adverts as a potential loophole.
Minister reply
The minister commits to looking at the issue and taking appropriate action to protect children from those sorts of images.
Jonathan Brash
Lab
Hartlepool
Question
The MP suggests it would be better to assume technology companies' moral bankruptcy and legislate straightaway, rather than asking them to put software in place to protect against child sexual abuse.
Minister reply
The minister supports the idea of stopping thinking about the online world as distinct from the offline world and implementing the same level of expectation for the online world.
Lisa Smart
Lab
Middlesbrough
Question
The MP raises concerns about online safety and the number of abuse perpetrators who are themselves children, and asks what the Secretary of State is doing with colleagues in the Department for Education to support schools and families in preventing children from becoming victims or perpetrators.
Minister reply
The minister acknowledges the importance of the issue and the need for better support for schools, parents, and families to help protect children, and intends to put rocket boosters under the national youth strategy to address these concerns.
Sarah Smith
Lab
Hyndburn
Question
The MP welcomes the Secretary of State’s statement and the work done to tackle misinformation and disinformation, and asks for a meeting to discuss the importance of trying to protect victims of suspicious circumstances from tragedy trolling.
Minister reply
The minister offers to meet with the relevant officials and to discuss the issue personally, highlighting the importance of tackling misinformation and disinformation.
Ayoub Khan
Lab
Poplar and Limehouse
Question
The MP raises concerns about the robustness of social media apps' complaints procedures, providing an example of a constituent facing serious harassment on TikTok despite numerous complaints.
Minister reply
The minister expresses her willingness to pick up the example and address the issue with social media companies directly.
Luke Myer
Con
Kingston and Surbiton
Question
The MP asks what more the Government will do to address the use of social media disinformation by hostile states to disrupt democracies and sow division.
Minister reply
The minister outlines measures being considered, including the development of gov.uk, the local news strategy, and the upcoming BBC charter review to support trusted sources of news and tackle misinformation and disinformation.
Iqbal Mohamed
Lab
Mitcham and Morden
Question
The MP urges the Secretary of State to look at hardware-level controls for protecting children online and asks whether the Government will pursue robust enforcement against companies like Meta.
Minister reply
The minister acknowledges the importance of enforcement and states that any legislation they introduce is only as good as their ability to enforce it, and they take this extremely seriously.
Question
As the youngest parent in this place, I warmly welcome the Secretary of State’s leadership and that of our Prime Minister. Will she look at AI-enabled smart glasses, which could be filming our children, and the content from them that is being put online? Will she also look at loopholes in VPN usage—in particular, with app-based browsers—as she looks to progress the measures?
Minister reply
I have already discussed issues around VPNs with officials; device-level controls are one part of the answer but not the whole answer, so my hon. Friend is right to raise the issue. I will take up the issue of smart glasses as well.
Question
When I speak to parents in Bracknell Forest, they tell me of their anxiety about what their young people might be exposed to online and their feeling of powerlessness—they do not feel that they have the tools to do anything about it. Today’s statement makes it clear that this Government believe that the power to act lies squarely with the tech companies, and that they should get on and fix their platforms so that our young people can be safe.
Minister reply
I support my hon. Friend in saying that it is the responsibility of all of us to keep children safe, and we would like to see the tech companies do more—and more quickly. Today’s statement also shows that the Government can do things to improve people’s lives. We are not powerless; we were elected to do that, and we intend to fulfil that promise.
Question
I welcome the announcement from the Secretary of State, but the focus is too often on what young people are doing, rather than on the adults who are grooming and coercing them. Can the Secretary of State say more about the work that her Department and others are doing with tech companies to identify and disrupt adults who are targeting children and pressurising them to put images online?
Minister reply
I saw my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips) nodding vigorously at that point. My hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) is absolutely right, and I am working closely with the Home Secretary to ensure that we come at the issue from every angle and hold to account all who are responsible.
Question
I strongly welcome the statement from the Secretary of State. It is long overdue and builds on great work by her predecessors. Unfortunately, we do not have full sovereign capability in developing our own tech in this country, and we are vulnerable to politics in other countries. Will the Secretary of State tell me what she is doing to work with people across Government to ensure that if there is pushback against these changes, particularly in the United States, and challenges from the tech companies, Britain will get what it wants—not what some people in certain other countries want?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend raises two linked and important points. First, we are the Government of the United Kingdom and are responsible to the people of this country. Although we have close friends and allies all over the world, we reserve the right to take our own view on technology. Particularly when it comes to keeping children safe, that is non-negotiable. Secondly, we have to be on the front foot in developing new forms of technology. I believe that tech, the online space and AI should be—and can be—a force for good in the world, but in order to help create that and be leaders in the field, we have to be on the front foot in developing forms of technology and having sovereign capability. I can reassure my hon. Friend on that point because I discussed it, this very morning, with the Business Secretary and the AI Minister.
Question
I thank and commend the Secretary of State for the Government’s world-leading action. Does she agree that at some point in the future, we are going to look back and wonder how we let the tech companies get away with hijacking our children’s attention and safety for so long? She talks about closing loopholes, but will she say more about what is happening across Government and with the regulators—as well as internationally—to ensure that those who produce the devices and what goes on them all play their part in keeping our children safe?
Minister reply
I think we have been living through a revolution in the way we interact with one another and with Government, compared with when I was growing up. I am going to sound incredibly old now, but I think I was 17 before I got my first email address, and Google was not a thing at that point—it was Ask Jeeves, if anyone remembers that. We have been living through this revolution for quite some time, and it is about time that Governments caught up. We have to ensure that we are on the front foot, helping to shape the society we want to have, not just allowing that to be relegated to the private sphere. My hon. Friend talks about the global consensus, and I think there is a global consensus forming on this. We are seeing more and more that states are prepared to step up and be on the front foot and taking action. We are working closely with our friends and allies around the world, trying to move in step so that this can be as effective as possible.
Question
This is a really tremendous statement—I welcome it, and congratulate and thank my right hon. Friend for it. We have touched on the tech companies. Sadly, we can expect them to push back, and they may get support on the other side of the Atlantic. I encourage my right hon. Friend to work closely with our friends in the European Union who have similar aims to protect their children to give ourselves as much clout and oomph in the negotiations ahead.
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As a rule, I think this Government have taken that approach; we want to have a much closer relationship with our closest friends and neighbours across Europe and to repair some of the needless damage that was done to that relationship under previous Governments. When it comes to tech and what happens online, it is absolutely essential that we work with other like-minded countries in order to move in step, so I can certainly reassure him on that point.
Question
I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. Unfortunately, young people and their parents in my constituency do not believe that the big tech companies are taking their responsibilities seriously. I speak to young people in schools across Harlow who are concerned that it is very easy to flout the age verification rules. In much the same way as it is a shop’s responsibility to ensure that no one under the age of 18 buys alcohol, can we make it very clear to the big tech companies that it is their responsibility to ensure that underage people cannot use their software and sites?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend for that point. I think the views of his constituents in Harlow are probably mirrored in every constituency across the country. I want to be really clear about our message today to parents who have been struggling with this matter for so long: you are not on your own. We believe that we are as responsible for keeping their children safe as they are, and we are stepping up to take the necessary action, whether that is through support, advice and training for parents and children, or through the reforms and measures that I have outlined today—we are the first country in the world to do so, and I strongly suspect that we will not be the last.
Question
Democracies face a choice between allowing the online world to be a wild west or stepping in, so I really welcome this Government’s decision to regulate the tech titans that have been putting profit before protection. I have families in my constituency who have been deeply affected by traumas online that have repeated what has been experienced in the real world, and they would really welcome the chance to meet the Secretary of State at the Department. Would she meet them with me so that they can share their experiences and help to shape the legislation as it goes forward?
Minister reply
Yes, of course; it would be a privilege to meet them. I have had the honour of getting to know some of these families—both bereaved families and families of survivors whose children have been harmed because of the lack of action in this space—and I gave them a commitment that I will do everything in my power to stop another family having to experience what they have gone through. I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend and his constituents.
Shadow Comment
Rebecca Paul
Shadow Comment
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement, welcoming the clear recognition of the seriousness and urgency of the child safety issue. I welcome the focus on device-level protections but seek more detail on the Secretary of State’s plans, including the timeline for introducing the legislation and what will constitute sufficient progress for tech companies. I also ask for clarity on whether the planned protections will apply only to new devices or if companies will be expected to push them through software updates to existing devices. Furthermore, I urge the Secretary of State to confirm that restrictions on social media for under-16s remain on course for early 7 2027, with necessary age assurance and enforcement arrangements ready in time.
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