Image copyright Facebook/AFP/Google Image caption Jeremy Hunt has written to a number of internet companies, including Facebook and Google

Social media firms are being threatened with new laws if they don't do more to protect children online.

In a letter to companies including Facebook and Google, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt accuses them of "turning a blind eye" to their impact on children.

He gives them until the end of April to outline action on cutting underage use, preventing cyber bullying, and promoting healthy screen time.

Google and Facebook say they share Mr Hunt's commitment to safety.

The age requirement to sign up to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat is 13. To use WhatsApp or to have a YouTube account, you must also be at least 13.

In his letter to the internet firms, Mr Hunt said: "I am concerned that your companies seem content with a situation where thousands of users breach your own terms and conditions on the minimum user age.

"I fear that you are collectively turning a blind eye to a whole generation of children being exposed to the harmful emotional side effects of social media prematurely.

"This is both morally wrong and deeply unfair to parents who are faced with the invidious choice of allowing children to use platforms they are too young to access or excluding them from social interaction that often the majority of their peers are engaging in."

'Phone jailer'

Conservative MP Liz Truss said she had resorted to physically locking her 12-year-old daughter's phone away.

"I have a box which I lock up and put my daughter's mobile phone in and I'm known as the phone jailer in our household," she told Pienaar's Politics on Radio 5 Live.

"It's not just the internet, it's screen time over all. It's part of being a good parent. I think social media companies can play a part and help parents in that job."

Mr Hunt met social media companies six months ago to discuss how to improve the mental health of young people who use the technology.

He told the Sunday Times, there had been "warm words" and "a few welcome moves" since then, but the overall response had been "extremely limited" - leading him to conclude that a voluntary, joint approach would not be good enough.

"None are easy issues to solve I realise, but an industry that boasts some of the brightest minds and biggest budgets should have been able to rise to the challenge," said Mr Hunt.

What can parents do?

Understand the risks that your children may be exposed to - including cyberbullying, grooming, illegal or unsuitable content

Make use of parental controls that give you the ability to filter the type of content your children can see when they are online. With younger children, have access to passwords to regularly check content

Show them how to use privacy settings and the report and block functions on sites and apps

Talk regularly to them about what they do online, what posts they have made that day, who they are friends with and how it is affecting their mood

Keep an eye on how much time children spend online. Consider bans on devices at mealtimes and take them away an hour before bedtime. Do not let children charge devices in their rooms

Source: Internet Matters - more advice here for keeping your kids safe online

The National Bullying Helpline, a charity which deals with online bullying, said the government needed to introduce legislation to govern the social media companies.

"Asking Facebook and other social media giants to regulate themselves is like asking the press to regulate themselves. It won't happen," it added.

Mr Hunt said the government would not rule out introducing new legislation to tackle the issue when it publishes its response to the Internet Safety Strategy consultation in May.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Prof Sonia Livingstone is an expert on child online safety

He has also asked the chief medical officer to launch a review into the impact of technology on the mental health of children and young people.

Katie O'Donovan, public policy manager at Google UK, said the company had shown its commitment to protecting children by developing its resources - such as an online safety course which has been taught to 40,000 schoolchildren.

Facebook said it welcomed Mr Hunt's "continued engagement on this important issue" and shared his ambition to create a safe and supportive environment for young people online.

"We continue to invest heavily in developing tools for parents and age-appropriate products to meet this challenge and we look forward to continuing to work with our child safety partners and government to make progress in this area," said Karim Palant from Facebook .</s>The Health Secretary has accused social media networks of "turning a blind eye to a generation of young people" by failing to protect them when using their platforms online.

Jeremy Hunt says he is "disappointed" by the lack of progress made in areas such as age verification, screen time limits and cyber bullying.

He met with the bosses of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter in November, but in a strongly-worded letter he told the companies not enough progress has been made.

"I fear that you are collectively turning a blind eye to a whole generation of children being exposed to the harmful emotional side effects of social media prematurely," he said.

"This is both morally wrong and deeply unfair on parents, who are faced with the invidious choice of allowing children to use platforms they are too young to access, or excluding them from social interaction that often the majority of their peers are engaging in.

"It is unacceptable and irresponsible for you to put parents in this position.

"This is not a blanket criticism and I am aware that these aren't easy issues to solve... however, it is clear to me that the voluntary joint approach has not delivered the safeguards we need to protect our children's mental health."

The firms have been given just over a week to set out what steps they have taken to cut underage use, prevent cyber bullying and encourage healthy screen time - and what more they intend to do.

Mr Hunt said stressed that the Government does not rule out bringing in new legislation to deal with the situation when it considers options in May.

Tamanna Miah, 24, campaigns for more help for young people when it comes to cyber bullying.

She told Sky News she was a victim herself: "I experienced a number of things. Whether it was people commenting on my photos, my posts, being really negative, mocking my religion, my background, my family, where I lived, what I wore, the way I dressed, everything from my appearance to my culture."

Her friend Rosina St James said she is concerned about children who are growing up with social media profiles from a very young age.

"Everybody is taking selfies constantly and for me it's the psychological effect of the self-esteem and self-worth and your identity attached to that because you get lost in looking the best, of having the best status, or wanting everybody to know about what you're doing."

The National Bullying Helpline says it has seen a big rise in the number of inquiries for help when it comes to cyber bullying - more than 1,000 every day.

The ambassador for the helpline, actress Debbie Arnold, says tougher laws are needed urgently.

"Murder is a crime, hitting someone is a crime. We need to know the barriers, where is cyber bullying? When does it become a crime? When is it telling tales and when does it go from one thing to another. I mean, it's caused people to kill themselves. It causes people life-long anxiety. Cyber bullying is everywhere and we have got to do something to stop it."

Sky News approached all major social networks for a response to Mr Hunt's letter.

Google responded saying it is taking action and shares the Government's commitment to ensuring the internet is a safe space.

Katie O'Donovan, public policy manager at Google UK, said: "Along with all parents, we understand the challenge of helping children make the most of the internet in a safe and responsible way.

"Google shares the Government's commitment to this, which is why we launched Family Link to help parents set digital ground rules for their children such as screen time limits. We also developed the first online safety course to be officially accredited and have taught it to over 40,000 school children so far."

Facebook said: "We welcome the Health Secretary's continued engagement on this important issue and we share his ambition to create a safe and supportive environment for young people online.

"We continue to invest heavily in developing tools for parents and age appropriate products to meet this challenge, and we look forward to continuing to work with our child safety partners and Government to make progress in this area."</s>UK calls on social media firms to better protect children

LONDON (AP) — Britain's health secretary says the government will introduce new laws targeting online social media companies if they don't do more to protect children.

In a strongly-worded letter to Facebook, Google, Snapchat, Twitter and others, Jeremy Hunt said their failure to prevent young children using social media and exposing children to its "harmful emotional side effects" was "unacceptable and irresponsible."

Hunt said Sunday he was particularly concerned about the lack of age verification measures, with thousands breaching minimum user age rules.

He gave the companies a week to set out steps they are taking to cut underage use, prevent cyberbullying, and promote limited screen time.

Hunt last year attacked Facebook for releasing a version aimed at children, telling the company to "stay away from my kids."</s>Share this article with Google Plus

Facebook and other social media sites that fail to strictly enforce age limits could be targeted in a new Government clampdown.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned companies including Facebook and Google that ministers have not ruled out bringing in new laws to deal with the situation.

In a strongly-worded letter, he accused the firms of ‘turning a blind eye’ to children who are ‘exposed to harmful emotional side effects’ of social media use.

Mr Hunt said fragrant breaches of age limits are ‘unacceptable and irresponsible’.

He wrote: ‘In particular, progress on age verification is not good enough. I am concerned that your companies seem content with a situation where thousands of users breach your own terms and conditions on the minimum user age.

‘I fear that you are collectively turning a blind eye to a whole generation of children being exposed to the harmful emotional side effects of social media prematurely.

‘This is both morally wrong and deeply unfair to parents who are faced with the invidious choice of allowing children to use platforms they are too young to access, or excluding them from social interaction that often the majority of their peers are engaging in.

‘It is unacceptable and irresponsible for you to put parents in this position.’

Companies have been given a week to set out their progress in cutting underage use, preventing cyber bullying and encouraging healthy screen time.

Mr Hunt previously began a working group on children and young people’s mental health and social media that involved Facebook, Snapchat, Google and others.

In December, he attacked Facebook for releasing a version aimed at children, telling the company: ‘Stay away from my kids.’</s>New laws to crack down on social media giants that allow flagrant breaches of age limits are being considered by ministers.

In a strongly-worded letter to platforms like Facebook and Google, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has accused companies of “turning a blind eye” to a generation of children who are being “exposed to harmful emotional side effects” of social media use.

The firms have been given just over a week to set out what steps they have taken to cut underage use, prevent cyber bullying and encourage healthy screen time. They must also explain what more they intend to do.

The Health Secretary warned the failure of platforms to prevent young children using social media was “unacceptable and irresponsible”.

He wrote: “In particular, progress on age verification is not good enough. I am concerned that your companies seem content with a situation where thousands of users breach your own terms and conditions on the minimum user age.

“I fear that you are collectively turning a blind eye to a whole generation of children being exposed to the harmful emotional side effects of social media prematurely.

“This is both morally wrong and deeply unfair to parents who are faced with the invidious choice of allowing children to use platforms they are too young to access, or excluding them from social interaction that often the majority of their peers are engaging in.

“It is unacceptable and irresponsible for you to put parents in this position.”

The Health Secretary questioned whether social media giants had “sufficient will” to introduce solutions.

Mr Hunt stressed the Government was not ruling out bringing in new legislation to deal with the situation when it considers options next month.

The intervention comes six months after Mr Hunt set in train a working group on children and young people’s mental health and social media that involved Facebook, Snapchat, Google and others.

In December, the Health Secretary publicly attacked Facebook for releasing a version aimed at children, telling the company to “stay away from my kids”.

An evidence-based review by the Chief Medical Officer on the impact of technology on the mental health of children and young people has also been launched by Mr Hunt.</s>LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s health minister Jeremy Hunt threatened to impose new regulations on social media firms unless they do more to protect young people using their services.

Hunt said the groups were “turning a blind eye” to the effect social media had on children’s well-being - an accusation that comes as Facebook (FB.O) and others face heightened scrutiny worldwide over their impact and influence.

Google’s UK operation and Facebook said they were committed to protecting children and working on new features to help. There was no immediate comment from Twitter, Snapchat and other firms.

Hunt did not say what kind of regulations the government could impose, but gave the companies an end-of-April deadline to come up with measures to tackle cyber bullying and control the amount of time youngsters spent online.

“I am concerned that your companies seem content with a situation where thousands of users breach your own terms and conditions on the minimum user age,” Hunt said in a letter sent to tech firms.

“I fear that you are collectively turning a blind eye to a whole generation of children being exposed to the harmful emotional side effects of social media prematurely.”

In an article in the Sunday Times newspaper, Hunt said there had been a few welcome moves to improve children’s online protection, but that the overall response had been “extremely limited” and that a voluntary approach might not be enough.

“An industry that boasts some of the brightest minds and biggest budgets should have been able to rise to the challenge,” he added.

Hunt’s comments came alongside the announcement of a government review of the impact that sites like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat have on children’s mental health.

Britain has clashed with internet companies on several fronts in recent years over payment of taxes, action against the spread of fake news and extremist material, and their use of personal data.

“We welcome the Health Secretary’s continued engagement on this important issue and we share his ambition to create a safe and supportive environment for young people online,” said Karim Palant, Facebook UK Public Policy Manager.

Google UK’s Public Policy Manager, Katie O’Donovan, said the company had introduced features to help parents set screen time limits and launched an online safety course for children.

“Along with all parents, we understand the challenge of helping children make the most of the internet in a safe and responsible way,” she added.</s>Jeremy Hunt has threatened social media firms with new laws if they don't do more to protect children online.

In a letter to companies including Facebook and Google, the health secretary accused them of "turning a blind eye" to their impact on children.

The firms have until the end of April to outline action on cutting underage use, preventing cyber bullying, and promoting healthy screen time.

Mr Hunt said the current situation was "unfair to parents".

The age requirement to sign up to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat is 13 - although Snapchat has launched a version for under 13-year-olds.

To use WhatsApp or to have a YouTube account, you must also be at least 13.
• How helpful is social media for our mental health?
• 'The advice I'd give to my teenage self'

Mr Hunt met with social media companies six months ago to discuss how to improve the mental health of young people who use the technology.

At the time, a spokesman from Facebook said they looked forward to working with the government "to make sure we do everything we can to protect people's wellbeing."

In an article for today's Sunday Times, Mr Hunt said there had been "a lot of of warm words" and "a few welcome moves" to improve online protection since.

But he said the overall response had been "extremely limited" - leading him to conclude a voluntary, joint approach would not be good enough to tackle the issue.

"None are easy issues to solve I realise, but an industry that boasts some of the brightest minds and biggest budgets should have been able to rise to the challenge," said Mr Hunt.

In his letter to the internet firms, Mr Hunt said: "I am concerned that your companies seem content with a situation where thousands of users breach your own terms and conditions on the minimum user age.

"I fear that you are collectively turning a blind eye to a whole generation of children being exposed to the harmful emotional side effects of social media prematurely.

"This is both morally wrong and deeply unfair to parents who are faced with the invidious choice of allowing children to use platforms they are too young to access, or excluding them from social interaction that often the majority of their peers are engaging in."

He added: "It is unacceptable and irresponsible for you to put parents in this position."

Mr Hunt said the government would not rule out introducing new legislation to tackle the issue come May, when it publishes its response to the Internet Safety Strategy consultation.

The health secretary has also asked the chief medical officer to launch a review into the impact of technology on the mental health of children and young people.</s>British lawmakers are looking to impose harsh new regulations that will force social media firms to show under 18’s government-approved content only.

Britain’s health minister Jeremy Hunt said the new regulations are needed because Facebook, Twitter and Google are “turning a blind eye” to cyber-bullying and social media addiction.

Msn.com reports: Hunt did not say what kind of regulations the government could impose, but gave the companies an April deadline to come up with measures to tackle cyber bullying and control the amount of time youngsters spent online.

“I am concerned that your companies seem content with a situation where thousands of users breach your own terms and conditions on the minimum user age,” Hunt said in a letter sent to tech firms and reported in the Sunday Times.

“I fear that you are collectively turning a blind eye to a whole generation of children being exposed to the harmful emotional side effects of social media prematurely.”

In an article in the same newspaper, Hunt said there had been a few welcome moves to improve children’s online protection, but that the overall response had been “extremely limited” and that a voluntary approach might not be enough.

“An industry that boasts some of the brightest minds and biggest budgets should have been able to rise to the challenge,” he added.

Hunt’s comments came alongside the announcement of a government review of the impact that sites like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat have on children’s mental health.

Britain has clashed with internet companies on several fronts in recent years over payment of taxes, action against the spread of fake news and extremist material, and their use of personal data.

Google UK’s Public Policy Manager, Katie O’Donovan, said the company had also introduced an online safety course for children.

“Along with all parents, we understand the challenge of helping children make the most of the internet in a safe and responsible way,” she added.</s>Britain’s health minister Jeremy Hunt has threatened to impose new regulations on Facebook and other social media firms unless they do more to protect young people using their services.

Hunt said the groups were “turning a blind eye” to the effect social media has on children’s well-being – an accusation that comes as Facebook and others face heightened scrutiny worldwide over their impact and influence.

As of January this year, there were about 9.4 million users of Facebook that fall in the age bracket of 13-24 in the UK alone. The bulk of the users, 19.7 million, are in the age bracket of 25-44.

Google’s UK operation said it was committed to protecting children and introduced features to help parents set screen time limits. There was no immediate comment from Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and other firms.

Hunt did not say what kind of regulations the government could impose, but gave the companies an April deadline to come up with measures to tackle cyber bullying and control the amount of time youngsters spent online.

“I am concerned that your companies seem content with a situation where thousands of users breach your own terms and conditions on the minimum user age,” Hunt said in a letter sent to tech firms and reported in the Sunday Times.

“I fear that you are collectively turning a blind eye to a whole generation of children being exposed to the harmful emotional side effects of social media prematurely.”

In an article in the same newspaper, Hunt said there had been a few welcome moves to improve children’s online protection, but the overall response has been “extremely limited” and a voluntary approach might not be enough.

“An industry that boasts some of the brightest minds and biggest budgets should have been able to rise to the challenge,” he added.

Hunt’s comments came alongside the announcement of a government review of the impact that sites like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat have on children’s mental health.

Britain has clashed with internet companies on several fronts in recent years over payment of taxes, action against the spread of fake news and extremist material, and their use of personal data.

Google UK’s Public Policy Manager, Katie O’Donovan, said the company has also introduced an online safety course for children.

“Along with all parents, we understand the challenge of helping children make the most of the internet in a safe and responsible way,” she added.</s>The health secretary has threatened social media companies with new legislation if they don't do more to protect children online.

Jeremy Hunt has written to firms including Facebook and Google accusing them of "turning a blind eye" to their impact on youngsters and asking them to act to reduce underage use of the platforms.

Professor Sonia Livingstone, an expert on child online safety, said research showed both parents and children would like to see social media companies do things differently.
UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt writes to social media firms including Google and Facebook giving them until the end of the month to come up with ways to counter online bullying, underage usage, and unhealthy amounts of interaction online. He says they will face new legislation if they do not comply.