The Under-16s Social Media Ban Debate

<p>Today, we hear from Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly took her own life in 2017.

An inquest found social media content contributed "more than minimally" to Molly’s death. Since then Ian has campaigned for greater safety online. So why is Ian opposed to a ban for under 16s?</p><p>Laura and Paddy in the Newscast studio to discuss the arguments for and against, and why there seems to be increasing support for the idea in British politics.</p><p>We also look at what’s happened in Australia, which introduced a ban last year. introduced a ban, Kemi Badenoch has come out to say that if she were in government the Conservative party would follow suit. Since then, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said “all options are on the table” when it comes to protecting young people online.</p><p>You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.</p><p>You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.</p><p>New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd</p><p>Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC.</p><p>The presenters were Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O’Connell. It was made by Chris Flynn with Rufus Gray. The social producer was Sophie Millward. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The weekend series producer is Chris Flynn. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.</p>