The Molly Rose Foundation welcomed the consultation, saying it was a “crucial opportunity to decisively strengthen online safety laws and stand up for children and families”.
The charity was established by the family of Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017 at the age of 14 after viewing self-harm and suicide content on platforms including Instagram.
But several other charities and campaign groups, including the NSPCC, have said a full ban on social media for under-16s risks “unintended consequences” and have called instead for stronger enforcement of existing child safety rules.
“It would create a false sense of safety that would see children – but also the threats to them – migrate to other areas online,” the organisations wrote in a joint statement in February.
Sonia Livingstone, a professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics, told the BBC: “What everyone wants to see is better safety from Big Tech companies, and then children could express themselves and connect online as they want to.”
Social media platforms have come under more scrutiny recently as governments and regulators study the effects their content and design have on children’s wellbeing.
In February the EU told TikTok it must change its “addictive design” or face heavy fines, a move which the Chinese-owned platform said it would challenge.
Meanwhile, a landmark trial is currently under way in California, examining the mental health effects of Instagram and YouTube.