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Multi-Thousand Signature Petition Demands Total Social Media Ban for Under-16s

Multi-Thousand Signature Petition Demands Total Social Media Ban for Under-16s

05 June 2026

A Skipton-based campaigner has helped deliver a massive ten-thousand-signature petition to No. 10 Downing Street calling for a total social media ban for children

A prominent grassroots parent advocate based in Skipton has travelled to London to help personally hand over a massive ten-thousand-signature petition directly to the gates of No. 10 Downing Street. Working in close collaboration with the national Smartphone Free Childhood movement, the Craven-based coordinator has spent months uniting hundreds of local families, schools, and community leaders who are deeply alarmed by the impact of digital connectivity on youth development. The comprehensive petition demands that the central government enact binding legislation implementing a total, legally enforceable ban on social media access for all children under the age of sixteen. The campaign group argues that tech conglomerates are failing to police their networks, leaving vulnerable young people exposed to toxic algorithms, extreme cyberbullying, and addictive design loops that fuel a documented crisis in adolescent mental health across both urban and isolated rural Dales villages.


Source: Craven Herald