Championing digital rights, privacy & liberty within the Labour movement. Resisting the authoritarian playbook to build a progressive digital future. đšđď¸
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If you are a Labour member as frustrated by today's news as we are, please get in touch with us at labourdigitalrights@gmail.com
We are always looking to hear from you!
While protecting young people from exploitation is a noble and vital goal, the PM is deliberately ignoring the terrifying reality of how his proposed policy would actually be enforced.
Companies like Apple and Google will effectively be forced to introduce state-mandated surveillance software (spyware) on every single phone, tablet and laptop in the UK.
Furthermore, because each device must know if the user is a child to block the content, this policy guarantees the roll-out of mandatory digital ID checks for the entire population, effectively killing internet privacy and online anonymity for us all.
We also must question the sudden sense of urgency and tough talk today.
Just last month, Jess Phillips resigned from the government over this exact issue, calling out Starmer for pursuing only "incremental change," and worrying more about upsetting tech bosses than protecting children.
Why the sudden pivot? It is hard to see this ultimatum as an act of genuine conviction. Instead, much like his rushed, unworkable social media ban, it looks like another desperate cynical attempt to shore up Starmer's political legacy before the looming by-election and leadership contest.
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Labour Digital Rights Network retweeted
Has this MP been reading our tweets? It's almost like we've been warning about this for weeks!
Glad the penny has finally dropped... itâs just a shame itâs all come far too late. đ
One MP says of the potential ban on social media for under 18s past 8.30pm:
"Are we giving votes to 16 year olds but banning them from watching the election results on YouTube?"
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Labour Digital Rights Network retweeted
The evidence doesn't support a social media ban or curfew.
Kids will just get around it, but you'll still have to show ID to access legal speech online.
đ¨ NEW: Keir Starmer will introduce nightly social media curfews for 16 and 17-year-olds as part of the Government's social media ban
[@thetimes]
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Labour Digital Rights Network retweeted
No doubt. Though remember digital IDs were incredibly popular before this government attempted to introduce them.
And yes, a ban is unworkable and illiberal.
Youâre going to see a lot in your X timeline about how the social media ban is unworkable and illiberal - and it will be one the most obvious examples of how social media skews debate.
But it will be one of the most popular things the government is doing
theguardian.com/uk-news/2026âŚ
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The public rightly distrust both tech monopolies and government ministers to police our digital spaces.
But here is the terrifying contradiction: to enforce this rushed social media ban, the government will force all of us to hand over highly sensitive personal data - such as passports, credit cards, or biometric face scans - to the exact same tech giants.
Labour should be dismantling surveillance capitalism and breaking up data monopolies, not feeding them even more of our private information just to use the internet.
The majority want to see inappropriate social media platforms banned for children. But who should decide which social media platforms are appropriate?
â
Parents: 51% trust them to decide
â
Independent regulators: 49%
â Tech companies: 16%
â Government ministers: 15%
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đ¤Who could have guessed?
Instead of holding tech monopolies accountable, this flawed policy will force the British public to hand over sensitive biometric face scans just to use the internet.
We should be dismantling surveillance capitalism and breaking up data monopolies, not feeding Big Tech even more of our deeply personal information.
Read more ⤾ď¸
telegraph.co.uk/politics/202âŚ
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Labour Digital Rights Network retweeted
NEW: Starmer will announce an âAustralia plusâ teen social media ban on breakfast TV tomorrow
- Expected to include the same 10 apps as Aus: TikTok, YouTube, X, Instagram among them
- âRomanticâ chatbots banned
- 16 17 yr olds will have a curfew
thetimes.com/article/631af41âŚ
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By chasing a quick "easy fix", this government is completely ignoring the voices of the very young people this policy claims to protect, who have rightly pointed out that this debate has been conducted entirely over their heads.
As Ian Russell rightly warns, taking this politically easy route will not make online dangers magically disappear.
This unworkable ban will simply push teens into darker, unmoderated corners of the internet, where they face even greater risks of exploitation and where genuinely harmful content is rife.
The father of Molly Russell has criticised Sir Keir Starmer for âpolitical opportunismâ by rushing out plans to ban children from social media sites before Thursdayâs Makerfield by-election.
đď¸ telegraph.co.uk/politics/202âŚ
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đľ@mollyroseorg is absolutely right.
Instead of punishing users, the government must tackle the predatory algorithms and addictive features that actively bombard children with harmful material.
Read more ⤾ď¸
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgmdâŚ
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Labour Digital Rights Network retweeted
Tearing my hair out watching news today đŤ
Any journalist covering the âsocial media banâ but not HOW it works is miserably failing missing the story.
It wonât be remembered as a policy that kept kids off SM (it wonât) - but as the policy that introduced IDs for the internet.
Jan 12
In reality, there is no such thing as a government ban on social media for under 16s.
What does it actually mean?
Mandatory ID checks on social media for every single one of us.
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Labour Digital Rights Network retweeted
A social media ban for under-16s is a stupid and unworkable policy, for countless reasons. I have written about a few of them here đ
mainstreamlabour.org/blog/whâŚ
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Labour Digital Rights Network retweeted
"We cannot seriously argue that 16-year-olds are mature enough to participate in democracy while simultaneously insisting they must be locked out of the spaces where much of democratic life now occurs."
Our founder @cgdav135 has written for @mainstreamlbr on why the government's looming social media ban is a fundamental betrayal of progressive values.
Read the full piece here ⤾ď¸
mainstreamlabour.org/blog/whâŚ
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Labour Digital Rights Network retweeted
Jun 12
Britainâs slow crawl towards a social-media ban for children is nearing its destination. The recent acceleration has not been fuelled by new policy insights, but by simple political calculation economist.com/britain/2026/0âŚ
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Labour Digital Rights Network retweeted
Jun 12
âď¸ Thank you to @mainstreamlbr for letting me write about why a social media ban for under-16s is a neglection of our rights and responsibilities to young people.
It is deeply concerning (though not surprising) that this Labour government is intent on going down this path.đ
Jun 12
âď¸NEW on the Mainstream blog:
It seems the government is heading towards a social media ban - but it wouldn't be useful, effective or progressive, writes Charlie Davies of the Labour Digital Rights Network.
mainstreamlabour.org/blog/whâŚ
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By embracing an "easy fix" to chase cheap headlines, Labour politicians are completely ignoring the disastrous, real-world complications of a social media ban.
Prohibition won't protect children - it just lets Big Tech off the hook.
Jun 11
But it perfectly captures the British prime ministerâs vanilla brand of populism economist.com/britain/2026/0âŚ
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Rushing into a ban - that we all know isn't going to work - will be a disaster.
@mizy_judah also reports on plans to impose social media curfews on 16 and 17-year-olds. How can this government champion giving 16-year-olds the vote, while simultaneously forcing upon them a state-mandated digital bedtime?
Attempting to rush through this fundamentally flawed policy ahead of the Makerfield by-election just shows this is about chasing cheap headlines, not protecting children.
Read more from @POLITICOEurope ⤾ď¸
politico.eu/article/ministerâŚ
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Labour Digital Rights Network retweeted
Jun 11
Starmerâs national child-lock plan is a total reshaping of modern civil liberty.
If his Great British Firewall becomes a reality, future generations will not remember it as a child safety policy.
âď¸ Iâve written for the Telegraph âŹď¸
telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06âŚ
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This report from the Makerfield by-election by @siennamarla reveals a concerning new reality: the chilling effect of normalised mass surveillance tech.
Canvassers and voters alike have no meaningful way to consent to being recorded and identified in this way. When people assume their political conversations are constantly being recorded, they self-censor.
This ultimately damages democratic engagement and turns everyday civic participation into a commodity to be extracted and exploited by Big Tech monopolies. ⤾ď¸
Jun 11
NEW: My big read on Andy Burnhamâs Makerfield campaign, what comes next and prepping for government
Iâm told No 10 is preparing for further resignations on 19 June & has replacement options ready
Plus:
⢠The âshy Andy voteâ, Restoreâs AI glasses, Labourâs canvassing script revealed
⢠The problems with an immediate challenge post-Makerfield â the mayoral by-election, the plan to change the voting system, dead air in August
⢠But no choice? Starmer instability & Streetingâs confidence
⢠Prep â the worries of some MPs (âhe really is a flip-flopperâ), plus the people involved now and the names floated for potential jobs in a Burnham government
politicshome.com/news/articlâŚ
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