Instant messaging app WhatsApp has dropped its age restriction from sixteen down to thirteen, and many parents aren't happy.
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00:00 Should there be tougher restrictions for children's use of phones and the internet?
00:06 Rishi Sunak seems to think so. According to reports, the PM is allegedly in the process
00:11 of drawing up new rules which could see under-16s banned from buying smartphones and have their
00:15 access to sites like Facebook and Instagram restricted.
00:19 The Mirror is reporting that parents are currently being consulted on the plans, which they say
00:22 will be unveiled in a matter of weeks.
00:25 Research comes after a survey for the charity ParentKind last month found 58 per cent of
00:30 parents of school-age children think smartphones should be banned for under-16s.
00:34 The reports follow calls from the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Jai to better regulate
00:39 young people's use of online platforms, after it was discovered her daughter's teenage killers
00:43 had accessed the dark web.
00:45 And from October last year, the online safety bill is now law. Its purpose is to suppress
00:49 or record a wide range of speech and media deemed harmful, but some parents argue it
00:54 doesn't go far enough to protect children from online dangers.
00:57 But what do you think? What age is the right age for kids to be online or get smartphones?
01:02 And how much time is too much for children to be spending with screens?