Should smartphones be banned for under-16s?

The government is facing increased calls to ban social media and smartphones for under-16s following high-profile incidents which have been linked to viewing harmful content online.

On Thursday, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, Esther Ghey, continued her campaign to get social media apps deleted from the phones of teenagers. Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe were both 15 when they killed transgender Brianna, 16, on 11 February last year. Jenkinson had watched videos of torture and murder online.

Ms Ghey said the Online Safety Act was a “step in the right direction” but did not think it was sufficient. She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The Online Safety Bill is not going to protect children and young people from seeing that kind of horrible content because I don’t think that will be deemed as harmful. Smartphone companies should have a moral responsibility and you should really want to do more.”

Actress and campaigner Sophie Winkleman has also backed calls to hand schoolchildren “brick” phones which would come without social media apps. Mother-of-two Winkleman told the Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast: “Something needs to happen from higher up. I don’t know how anyone can defend social media and smartphone use for under-16s.”

It comes after Conservative MP Miriam Cates previously asked the prime minister during PMQs if it was time to consider banning smartphones for under 16s altogether, appearing to reference the case of 14-year-old Mia Janin, who is believed to have killed herself. An inquest heard that schoolboys allegedly used a group chat to make fun of 14-year-old Mia prior to her death.

Would you agree with a ban on smartphones for under-16s?