'Mobile phones take away children's childhoods'

Mobile phones are "taking away children's childhoods", the father of a teenager who was fatally stabbed has said.

Olly Stephens was ambushed in 2021 in Reading over a dispute on social media.

His dad, Stuart Stephens, has worked with the government on the Online Safety Act but is now turning his attention to a new bill, which focuses specifically on protecting children accessing services and content online.

A government spokesperson said the Online Safety Act would provide safeguards for children from next summer.

Mr Stephens said legal protections would "absolutely" have helped his son if they had come in earlier.

Olly was stabbed to death by two teenage boys in a field behind his house, after they recruited a girl online to lure him there.

The entire attack had been planned on social media and triggered by a dispute in a social media chat group.

"Before Olly passed there was no Online Safety Act, therefore there was no protection for children online," Mr Stephens said.

"We understand how social media works... every time a child is on a screen, flicking through a screen, doom-scrolling... it's about making money for the companies."

He said social media companies currently "act with impunity".

"They can basically duck any responsibility for what happens," he said.

He said he wanted schools to "phase out" the use of phones by under 16s.

"The impact of social media within the school system is breaking down our children's educations," he said.

"Mobile phones take away children's childhoods, take away their imagination, take away their thirst for knowledge."

Another thing he wants to see changed is access to social media data.

He said he wanted the data to be automatically accessible after the death of a child, instead of a coroner having to order its release.

"That data, if it ever comes out, is incriminating to this company so they bury it," he said.

"[But] in our case it was the difference between manslaughter and murder."

Despite the challenges, Mr Stephens said he was optimistic because there was an open dialogue about the issue.

"We're having conversations with parents in the playground, we're having conversations with mums at Olly's bench, I'm having those conversations with people in the street," he said.

"It's having that conversation that's the start of it all."

A spokesperson for the government said: "We all want to find the best way of ensuring children are kept safe while also benefiting from the latest digital technology."

They added the Online Safety Act included a requirement for social media companies to check the age of children, giving parents "peace of mind about the safety of their children online".

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