Cabinet ministers feared Trump’s reaction to social media ban

Cabinet ministers feared introducing a ban on social media for the under-16s in case it upset Donald Trump, The i Paper understands.

A number of Sir Keir Starmer’s ministers originally resisted calls for an Australia-style age limit to avoid clashing with the US administration’s full-throated support for big tech, just as the Prime Minister was trying to forge close relations with the US President.

But others, including Technology Secretary Liz Kendall and former health secretary Wes Streeting, argued for the UK to take tougher action to protect young people from harmful content.

The details emerged as a government consultation on the proposals was drawing to a close at midnight on Tuesday, with the Prime Minister and Kendall pledging to take action within weeks and a possible ban in place by the end of this year.

While ministers legally have to take time to consider the responses of the consultation before making an official decision, it is widely expected that the Government will follow Australia in introducing the age limit for social media, as The i Paper first revealed in January this year.

Leadership hopefuls Burnham and Streeting back social media ban

But on Tuesday, Streeting, who resigned from the Cabinet earlier this month to prepare a leadership challenge against Starmer, accused the Government of being “behind the curve” on the issue and that big tech had displayed behaviour “akin to big tobacco”.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who is also in the running to succeed the Prime Minister, has previously backed calls for a ban on under-16s and is understood to have not changed his position.

Starmer said action to crack down on social media harms affecting children needed to be a “game changer” and pledged to act “very quickly” after a consultation on the matter closes.

However, it is understood that the Prime Minister had initially been reluctant to introduce a ban and has been on a “journey” on the issue over several months, according to insiders.

The three-month consultation received more than 80,000 responses, of which more than half were from parents, showing the strength of feeling on the issue.

It is believed this is the second-highest ever number of responses to a UK Government consultation, only surpassed by the legalisation of gay marriage.

Streeting revealed this week that he had been among ministers pushing for a ban around the Cabinet table, but there had been some resistance.

It is understood that some members of the Cabinet feared a crackdown on social media would clash with technology firms such as Elon Musk’s X and Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, as well as risking a row with Trump, who has made clear his support for big tech during his second term in office.

Some in Cabinet feared outright ban would be too difficult to enforce

There were also concerns from some ministers about whether an outright ban would be difficult to enforce – with similar teething problems emerging in Australia.

But in January, in response to X users requesting non-consensual sexually explicit deepfake images of women and children from its AI chatbot Grok, Kendall threatened to block the social media site in the UK unless it acted.

This tougher stance faced little pushback from X or the White House, according to insiders.

It was against this backdrop that Cabinet sentiment began to shift in favour of a social media ban for under-16s.

There is now a growing political consensus in favour of a ban, with Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives one of the first parties to call for the measure.

In January, Burnham said: “I find myself agreeing with a lot of what Kemi Badenoch is saying about children and social media. It seems to me parents would welcome a cross-party consensus around much bolder action.”

Science and Technology minister Kanishka Narayan is in Australia this week to learn how their ban is working, Downing Street said.

A spokesperson added: “We understand the strength of feeling on this issue, particularly from families who have lost loved ones.”

The consultation has looked at the right minimum age for children to access social media and limiting and removing features that drive addiction to it, such as scrolling.

In Downing Street on Tuesday, the Prime Minister met families of children who have died due to their activity on social media.

Starmer said at the event: “It is important for me to hear from you and to listen to all of you. I have read the stories of all your family members.

“It is important that we act and we will act. I can absolutely assure you of that.”

المصدر: iNews