YOUR views at the heart of social media ban decision, says online safety minister

Children have been asking questions about social media and a potential ban to the government's online safety minister, Kanishka Narayan MP, who has promised to listen to their views.

This comes after the government announced that it will soon begin a consultation to hear what people think about children's use of mobile phones and social media.

A consultation is a way for the government to collect different opinions before making big decisions.

One idea being discussed is whether social media should be banned for children, similar to rules introduced in Australia last year.

We asked children in London to put their questions directly to the Minister for AI and Online Safety, Kanishka Narayan MP.

"One of the big priorities I have as the minister in charge of online safety is to make sure young people's voice is at the heart of the decision making," says Kanishka Narayan.

"That's why I'm here, talking to all of you and taking all your tough questions.

"When we launch the consultation in a few weeks, we're going to have a part of it that is specifically for young people.

"So you can go online, you can engage with it. We'll make sure that we spread the word and find easy ways for you to feed into it as well."

During the discussion Kanishka Narayan acknowledged that the UK has agreed to follow the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which says children have the right to share their views on decisions that affect them.

"I'm here exactly because I think young people's voice counts for a lot, and this is a decision that is going to affect you," he said while speaking to the children.

"And also it's a decision that will affect others.

"You've seen the experience of social media in your day to day life.

"And so it's really important. I totally trust you to come up with really good ideas and to feed into it as well."

During their discussion with the minister, one of the children, Valentina, explained that some children rely on social media to stay in touch with friends who live far away or in other countries.

"One of the things that we're doing is we're trying to listen to a range of views, because I know that people have different experiences," said Kanishka Narayan in response.

"Some people have lots of friends near where they live.

"Lots of people who live in isolated communities, might not have friends in that community, but have them online."

The minister explained that a ban is only one of several ideas being considered, including banning certain elements of social media, screen time limits and curfews.

"Yes, a social media ban for under sixteens is one of them. And in that case, if that happens, then we'll have to make sure we're looking carefully at other ways in which people can stay in touch with friends that are close to them."

During her conversation with Mr Narayan, Valentina explained that the ban will really affect her and her family because she has relatives in Colombia.

"I'm going to make sure I take that into account when we're thinking about designing this.

"There are lots of arguments on all sides, but these sorts of insights on how people actually use social media are really important."

Eli asked a question about whether limiting social media for children will mean they don't develop the skills to use it safely once they turn 16.

"One of the things is that we're looking at all of these questions of what is the experience of being under 16, under a new set of laws and regulations, to the experience of being just over 16," said Mr Narayan.

The online safety minister explained that learning how to judge information online is important at any age.

"There are some concerns about making sure that when we have whatever the regulations are, the young people get to tell between good quality information and bad quality information.

"That's a really essential skill - alongside making sure that the online experience are safe for young people as well."

"It's a very, very short, sharp consultation. So keep your eyes out.

I'm really keen that all of you participate in it.

We're going to be launching it in a few weeks time, by the summer, the government will act on the results of the consultation."