“When that ban starts to unravel, which is what seems to be happening in Australia, the Prime Minister, maybe in six months’ time, will be left questioning, why did you not listen to the experts who unanimously say you should follow the evidence and tackle the harm at source.
“If that’s the direction that the Government goes in, I feel I would be completely let down as a bereaved parent. I fear for the effect it would have on young people, because the harmful content would be untouched. It would remain on the platforms. It would remain there for young people to find.”
Bans ‘let tech firms off hook’
It is not just that Mr Russell believes bans let tech firms off the hook for cleaning up their sites, but there is the almost ingenuity children will show in circumventing any ban. He cites cases of children sneaking into their parents’ bedroom to use their sleeping faces to unlock devices or painting moustaches on their upper lips.
What Mr Russell wants is for the social media firms to be forced to make their sites safe, just like a car rolling off a production line is required by law to meet set safety standards. “You say that infinite scroll wouldn’t be allowed for children on a platform, you could say that autoplay wouldn’t be allowed for videos,” he said.
“You could say that on messaging apps strangers shouldn’t be allowed to connect and chat to young people. You could say your algorithms must be designed not to recommend harmful content. You could monitor that, you can check that.”
Burnham ‘open to ideas’
Mr Russell met Mr Burnham on the Friday after Labour’s historic wipe-out in the local May elections. He said the Mayor of Greater Manchester appeared open to his thinking.
“He was really open to saying that banning children rather than banning harmful practices was wrong, that change has to come by compelling the platforms to change,” he said.
Similarly, he said he was heartened when Sir Keir took on Elon Musk over its Grok nudification-AI app. There, strong words from the Prime Minister, fast action by Ofcom and effective application of the Online Safety Act, forced X to back down. “So even the imperfect act can be used to create a safer digital space,” he added.