Parent outcry as WhatsApp lowers age restriction from 16 to 13

Instant messaging app WhatsApp has dropped its age restriction from sixteen down to thirteen, and many parents aren't happy.

Transcript

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?