UK Minister on VPN Loopholes and Delayed Social Media Ban Restrictions

I said yesterday to MPs I'll come back in July with a further statement around VPNs but also additional measures that we want to look at, further restrictions on AI chatbots that parents have found very worrying, more about overnight curfews or breaks in doom scrolling for 16 and 17 year olds. So yesterday's announcement was the first of the measures and the reason that we have done that is the sooner we make a decision on the main question of the... ban, the sooner we can get it through Parliament and the sooner it will come into practice because many families are desperate for this to happen and I listen particularly to bereaved families who said every week, every month you delay this, more children are put at risk and I took that very seriously. I've just had a message in the last few minutes from a bereaved mum who's appeared on this programme several times over the last couple of years who has been campaigning and welcomes broadly what you've said. but is really frustrated that there aren't more answers on VPNs, on Face ID. And it feeds into this criticism from Ian Russell, doesn't it, at the weekend, that this whole thing has been rushed. Well, before we made this announcement, people said we were taking too long and we were too slow. Some people are now saying that this is rushed. I think it was the right thing to do to have the consultation, to hear different views. including from Ian Russell and the Molly Rose Foundation and I take those concerns very very seriously we have tried to move as quickly as possible on the main issue of the ban so we get that big line in the sand that big change in place as quickly as possible we'll make further statements in July about VPNs and additional restrictions because I think the bottom line is this like nine out of ten parents who responded to our consultation want a ban crying out for help they feel every day with their children they're faced by this tidal wave of stuff their kids are seeing they can't keep on top of all the parental controls they're worried about the impact on their kids sleep their anxiety their concentration and the risks of what they're seeing online so we've made that big decision it's not a silver bullet it's not the total it's not one and done and the end of the story but it's a big move forward to help parents and give kids