(Alliance News) - UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has raised her concern about the impact of social media on children but warned against a "rush" to ban youngsters, arguing it could cause more problems than it solves.
While recognising action was needed, the chancellor cautioned over a "knee jerk" response.
The Labour Cabinet minister made her comments as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hauled tech chiefs into Downing Street to say the risks faced by children on social media "can't go on like this".
However, he could not guarantee action by the summer to crack down on harms.
Senior figures from Meta Platforms Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google – which owns YouTube –, X, Snap, and TikTok, were summoned by the prime minister on Thursday to push them to go further on protecting young people as the government considers new restrictions.
The meeting came as pressure is building for a social media ban for under-16s, amid mounting concern over its impact on their health and safety.
Despite growing calls, members of the parliament again rejected a bid by the Lords to bar youngsters immediately from accessing the platforms.
Speaking in Washington DC, where she is attending a summit of the International Monetary Fund, Reeves said: "I think it's important that we get this right, that we learn from what other countries around the world have done, that we don't find it creates more problems than it solves by children finding other ways to access these social media platforms, and you don't erode the trust between parents and children."
She added: "But like most parents as well as most politicians, I am concerned about the impact of social media on young people, but want to make sure that we get this right.
"We can't rush this.
"We can't make a knee jerk reaction that ends up creating more problems than it solves, but I think, like many people, I recognise that action is needed."
Earlier, Starmer said: "Things can't go on like this, they must change because right now social media is putting our children at risk.
"In a world in which children are protected, even if that means access is restricted, that is preferable to a world where harm is the price of participation."
The prime minister added: "I am determined we will build a better future for our children, and look forward to working with you on this.
"I do think this can be done. I think the question is not whether it is done, the question is how it is done."
However, Starmer would not commit to a timeline when pressed on when the Government might begin making changes.
Asked whether he would act by the summer, the prime minister told LBC after the meeting: "We'll get through the consultation, obviously, but the reason we took the powers early was to make sure that once the consultation is over and we've evaluated it, we can move very quickly."
The government is currently consulting on how to protect children online, which could include an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s, limits on addictive features, and stronger controls on artificial intelligence chatbots.
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, urged the prime minister to "decisively commit to strengthening regulation to make unsafe and addictive design a thing of the past".
Ellen Roome, who believes her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney died while attempting an online challenge, criticised the Downing Street meeting as a "stunt".
She said: "Social media companies have sat in rooms with parents like me, parents who have lost their children, and heard exactly what their platforms do.
"They have heard it in meetings and they have heard it in courtrooms. And still they do nothing. This meeting will be no different.
"It is just a stunt designed to distract from the fact that the Government told its own MPs to vote against raising the age limit."
By Nick Lester, David Lynch and Sophie Wingate, Press Association
source: PA
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