Blackburn with Darwen Council will next week be urged to support tougher rules on the use of social media by under-16s.
The Conservative group on the council is putting forward a motion to its full meeting on Thursday, but does not go as far as party leader Kemi Badenoch in calling for under-16s to be banned from using social media sites.
The government is already considering a ban as part of a consultation due to report by the summer, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer is understood to want to wait to assess the evidence from Australia’s ban, which came into force last month.
The motion says: “Children are spending more time on social media than ever before, often exposed to violent or pornographic content, or contacted by strangers in ways that would never be acceptable offline.”
The motion is proposed by Darwen South’s Cllr Kevin Connor and seconded by Conservative group boss Cllr John Slater.
It calls for Blackburn with Darwen Council chief executive Denise Park to write to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to express the council's concerns and consider:
- Oversight bodies, such as Ofcom, being given sufficient resources and, if necessary, powers to enforce legislation;
- Establishing initiatives to bring about Parliamentary cross-party consensus so that agreed legislation can be enacted speedily;
- Reviewing and, if necessary, amending the responsibilities of social media and AI companies with emphasis on their duty to ensure the content on their platforms is within legal, ethical and moral boundaries.
The motion says: “Both Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch have in recent weeks voiced their concerns and intentions to act by bringing in measures to limit underage use.
“This council is united in its belief in personal freedom, but it also believes childhood should be protected, parents should be supported, and responsibility should come before profit.
“We recognise the Online Safety Act enacted in 2023 and amended in March 2025 gave platforms legal duties to protect users from illegal content and children from online harm."
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It says "more needs to be done", citing data showing one million pre-school children use social media, children aged five to 15 spending more than five hours a day on social media, and that more than a quarter of children aged eight to 15 having experienced cyberbullying.
It adds: “The rate and range of social media expansion, coupled with the ever-increasing use of AI, brings greater burdens onthe Government to keep pace.
“With this in mind, we believe that an ongoing monitoring and review regime is essential.”
Critics of a proposed ban say social media can be important for forming friendships, a ban would infringe on people's freedom, and that virtual public networks (VPNs) can be used to bypass the ban.
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