'We've sleepwalked into a screen-based childhood' - Cambridgeshire campaigner backs Government crackdown on social media
New proposals aim to stop young people from taking, sharing and viewing nude images on their devices
A campaigner in Cambridgeshire has welcomed new Government plans aimed at preventing children from accessing, sharing and viewing nude images online, warning that young people are being exposed to increasingly harmful content at ever younger ages.
New measures in place
The measures are designed to strengthen protections for children online and form part of wider efforts to tackle the growing risks posed by smartphones, social media and internet-enabled devices.
It's announced plans to make Britain the first country in the world where children cannot take, share or view nude images on their smartphones and tablets.
Under the proposals, technology companies including Apple and Google would be required to activate built-in safety features that detect and block nude content on children's devices, with ministers warning legislation could follow if firms fail to act within three months.
More information on the Government's plans can be found here.
Amy Ruffell, who represents Smartphone Free Childhood in Cambridgeshire, said attitudes towards children's online safety had shifted dramatically in recent years as awareness of potential harms has grown.
"There's been an absolute 180-degree turnaround in terms of public opinion when it comes to safety and smart devices and social media for children in the last two years," she said.
She added that concerns which were once dismissed as a "moral panic" are now being taken more seriously as evidence about online harms continues to emerge.
The announcement comes amid growing concern about the impact smartphones and social media are having on children's wellbeing, development and safety.
According to Amy, one of the biggest concerns is not necessarily children actively seeking out inappropriate content, but how easily it can find them.
"The big problem for me is that this risky material, this inappropriate content, is being shared with ever younger children who are not going looking for it and who are not ready" she said.
She argued that many children are being exposed to content they are not emotionally equipped to process.
"Children are simply, in many cases, not ready to see increasingly pornographic, misogynistic, violent content that is being shared with them when they did not go looking for that."
Concerns over deepfakes
Amy also raised concerns about the rise of AI-generated deepfake imagery among children.
Citing conversations with education professionals, she said some schools were already dealing with cases involving manipulated sexualised images created by pupils.
"The highest use of sexual deepfakes in her school is by year seven and eight boys," she said, referring to information shared with her by a secondary school safeguarding lead.
She described the trend as "really shocking" and suggested many children may not fully understand the consequences of creating or sharing such images.
The Government has previously introduced legislation targeting the creation and sharing of non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes, as part of broader efforts to tackle online abuse.
A changing childhood
Smartphone Free Childhood argues that wider questions about childhood development also need to be considered.
Amy said many young people are spending increasing amounts of time online at the expense of face-to-face interaction and play.
"We have sleepwalked into our children having a screen-based childhood instead of a play-based childhood," she said.
She pointed to research suggesting teenagers spend between four and six hours a day on screens on average and argued that time spent online often comes at the expense of social development and real-world experiences.
The campaign group is calling for stronger restrictions on children's access to social media and internet-enabled devices.
While proposals for age restrictions on social media have been debated politically, Amy said she believes delaying access would be beneficial.
"We're not banning children and teenagers from social media," she said.
"What we're doing is we are asking to delay their access to it until a point where their brains are a bit more developed.
"There is nothing to lose from that step."
Calls for greater responsibility from tech firms
Amy also argued that technology companies should be required to build stronger safeguards into their products.
"We don't let a toy or a medicine for a child go to market without robust safety testing," she added.
"That's not the case for social media and big tech platforms; there are no safety rails; there's no safeguards at the moment and there must be."
The Government says its latest proposals are intended to strengthen online protections for children as technology continues to evolve, while campaigners say further action will be needed to ensure young people can safely navigate the digital world.