A social media night-time curfew could be enforced to help children sleep better, it was claimed last night.
Elizabeth Denham, the UK Information Commissioner, is looking to introduce a new-legally enforced code that could include making social media firms switch off technology at night.
She will ask parents and children what measures they want to see introduced in the future.
Details of the consultation on the code – part of the Government’s new Data Protection Act – will be revealed later this week, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Elizabeth Denham, the UK Information Commissioner, is looking to introduce a new-legally enforced code that could include making social media firms switch off technology at night
A senior official told the newspaper: ‘We are looking to do research directly with children and parents.
‘We are looking to make sure it’s more tailored to them.
‘It’s giving children and parents a voice.’ The plans could see social media companies banned from sending children notifications during school hours or when they should be asleep.
Other proposals being considered are high privacy settings by default for child users, not revealing their GPS location and minimal use of their data.
They could be expected to abide by the new laws, or face hefty fines.
It comes after a study published in the journal Child Development found last year that using smartphones late at night, specifically for social media, is directly linked to depression, poor coping skills, and reduced self-esteem in teens.
In light of recent evidence that the time teens spend on their phones has negative effects on their wellbeing.
One survey found that one in five teenagers admitted to regularly waking up in the middle of the night to check social media.
Giving children a digital curfew – a designated time each night when all devices are turned off and kept out of reach – could prevent extensive use of applications such as Snapchat or Instagram.
The new code was made possible by Baroness Kidron, the film director and crossbench peer, who led a cross-party campaign to amend the bill to protect children’s privacy and rights online.
She told The Daily Telegraph: ‘The principle behind the age-appropriate code is that a child is a child until they mature, until they are 18, not until they pick up the smart phone.
Giving children a digital curfew – a designated time each night when all devices are turned off and kept out of reach – could prevent extensive use of applications such as Snapchat or Instagram (file photo)
‘It is unacceptable to ask a child to tick a box at 13 and treat them as an adult.
‘It’s the duty of online services whether its Amazon or a newspaper to treat the child according to its status as a child.
‘It’s not the responsibility of the child to adapt to the commercial needs of these companies.
‘The second principle is that it’s the responsibility of services to adapt and provide. We have to get the digital world designed better for children.
‘It needs to anticipate the presence of children in these spaces.’
Earlier this month it was reported that Eton College had started to remove mobile phones from pupils in the evening to help them to sleep better.
The boarding school had been expecting an angry reaction but the boys welcomed it as it gave them a break from social media.
Simon Henderson, the headmaster, said that parents and schools should not be worried about standing up to the 24/7 culture of social media.
He told the Girls’ Day School Trust conference in London that the youngest boys – aged 13 and 14 – were required to hand in their phones at night.