UK PM Starmer Pledges Swift Action to Tackle Social Media Addiction
Speaking at an event in southwest London, Starmer criticized the slow pace of legislation in keeping up with technological change, saying the “status quo is not good enough.” He confirmed the government is ready to act swiftly on a potential ban on social media access for children under 16, subject to ongoing consultation results.
Starmer emphasized the risks posed by compulsive use, often referred to as doomscrolling, and the design features that keep users constantly engaged. “We also need to act very quickly, not just on the age concern, but on the devices and applications that mean the sort of auto-scrolling, the constant gluing to the machine that you can never stop scrolling, and it just encourages you or that one thing follows from another,” he said. “We have to break that habit to stop the addictive nature,” he added.
The government plans to pursue stronger regulatory powers to more effectively oversee tech companies, aiming to end the era of long delays in enforcement. “Now we're taking the powers to make sure we can act within months, not years,” Starmer said.
Reports indicate that Britain’s data protection authority has recently launched a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s X and xAI following allegations that the Grok AI tool produced non-consensual sexual deepfake imagery, including of minors. The Information Commissioner’s Office stated that the probe was initiated after reports that Grok was used to generate indecent content without individuals’ consent.
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