Children's commissioner backs 'under-16s' phone'

The children's commissioner has backed the idea of a "phone for under-16s" put forward by Brianna Ghey's mum to try to keep children safe online.

On Sunday, Esther Ghey said children must be stopped from having access to social media apps.

Her daughter's killers, both 15 at the time of the murder, were fascinated by violence and had planned the killing for weeks using a messaging app.

Dame Rachel de Souza told the BBC a ban on children having phones is unlikely, but more can be done to promote phones that are "safe by design".

That could theoretically include phones for children to be able to contact their parents, but not access social media sites.

"The thing with Brianna's mother's vision for a phone for under-16s, there is something really smart there," Dame Rachel told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on Thursday.

"Can we really lean on the Apples and Googles to create phones with access that is safe by design?"

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has previously insisted the new Online Safety Act is robust enough to protect children online.

He said the new law gave Ofcom the power "to actually talk to social media companies and ensure that children aren't exposed to harmful content online".

But Ms Ghey has since reiterated her calls for under-16s to be blocked from accessing social media on smartphones, and for stronger controls to flag potentially harmful searches to parents.

Her daughter's teenage killers - Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe - were given life sentences on Friday.

As well as communicating about the killing via messaging apps, Jenkinson had also watched videos of violence and torture on the dark web.

Ms Ghey told BBC Breakfast she "would like to see mobile phone companies take more responsibility".

The children's commissioner has also previously raised concerns about children's exposure to harmful content online.

She said half of 13-year-olds her team had surveyed had reported seeing "hardcore, misogynistic" pornographic material on social media sites.

"If they're seeing it there, I wouldn't want children on there before they're 18," she said on Thursday.

While she would be reluctant for a total ban to be introduced - which she said would be unlikely to be supported by any political party - Dame Rachel said "we can push hard on safety by design".

Parents have told the BBC it is "practically impossible" to take smartphones away from children who already have them.

James Turnham, who lives in Hackney, east London, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he limits the amount of time his children spend on apps, but said: "The pressure is relentless."

Kate Edgcumbe-Rendle, from Worthing, West Sussex, leads online safety workshops in schools and said: "Once those smartphones are handed to our children, it is near enough impossible to get them off them again. The effects are profound."