US and UK announce online child safety partnership

The US and the UK have announced what they say is their first joint agreement aimed at keeping children safer online.

It will see the setting up of a joint online safety working group to share evidence and expertise, and study the impact social media has on children.

UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said the agreement would turn the two countries’ “historic partnership” towards “delivering a safer online world for our next generation.”

But campaign group Smartphone Free Childhood said it was insufficient and parents “don’t have time to wait and see whether this UK-US agreement makes any difference when their children’s futures are at stake.”

However, others argue more evidence does need to be gathered in relation to online harms to guide any future policies.

“Policies and guidelines to support young people in navigating their digital world need to be based on robust evidence, but to date we haven’t had much success in establishing cause and effect when it comes to impacts on wellbeing,” said Prof Pete Etchells of Bath Spa University

Announcing the agreement, the UK government acknowledged there was “limited research and evidence on the causal impact that social media has on children and young people”.

It committed to consider ways access to more data held by big tech firms could be given to researchers.