Safer Phones Bill: what do the voters think?
Tech companies, regulators and head teachers all have strong views on who bears responsibility for protecting children from harms caused by smartphones – beyond their parents and guardians. But as the salience of the issue rises up the political agenda in the UK with the Safer Phones Bill laid before Parliament today, what do voters think and why does that matter?
Labour's Josh MacAlister MP will introduce new legislation to tackle harm to children from smartphones. His Private Members’ Bill falls short of proposing a ‘ban’ on the sale of smartphones to children. Instead, it proposes:
With a clear majority and a stable government in Westminster, there is a real chance that this legislation could become law.
So where are voters on this question – not least the voters who make up Keir Starmer’s new electoral coalition; the so-called ‘Hero Voters’ in Labour’s cross hairs? (You can read more about Labour’s Hero Voters and why they matter here). Is this an issue for government – or should this be left to parents, schools and the tech companies?
Firstly, do voters agree that there is a problem with children and smartphones?
Yes. While voters continue to prioritise other issues - the cost of living, the NHS and immigration as the most important issues for government, there is concern that smartphones are harming children – concern that, as you might expect, breaks party political divides.
Over two thirds of voters (68%) agree that smartphone access is causing harm to children. The figure is higher for those who voted Conservative (73%), Liberal Democrat (74%) and Reform UK (70%) than for Labour voters (68%).
But – for Labour’s Hero Voters, for whom family, security and opportunity are central values, this is an issue that resonates and one that the new Labour government could be keen to demonstrate progress on.
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So where does responsibility lie?
Unsurprisingly, voters believe that parents are responsible for limiting smartphone harm (89%). But beyond parents' direct oversight, more than 75% of voters feel the government could take a more active role in safeguarding against harmful content and other online risks. And aside from conventional guardians, social media firms and smartphone manufacturers are deemed chiefly accountable for tackling smartphone related issues.
What do they make of a ban on the sale of smartphones to children?
A clear majority (59%) agree that government should impose a ban the sale of smartphones to under 12s, with slightly more support for a ban amongst the voters of parties on the right (63% Reform UK and 64% Conservative). 24% neither agree nor disagree, with under a fifth (18%) saying that they disagree with a ban.
Greater support is secured for so-called ‘dumb phones’ – smartphones that block content, with built-in restrictions on what can be accessed. 谷歌 and 苹果 have developed products that could be a big part of the solution in the future. 70% of voters agree that smartphone sales to under-16s should be limited to these types of phones that block harmful content.
And what about making schools smartphone free?
Smartphone Free Childhood are campaigning for smartphone free schools. As reported by Richard Vaughan in the i today, over two-thirds (68%) of voters agree that government should ban smartphones in schools. Here, there is a significant gap across political divides with 65% of Labour voters backing the ban, jumping to 75% for Reform voters, 75% for Liberal Democrat voters and 78% for Conservative voters.
As above, within Labour’s Hero Voter segments, there’s more appetite (compared to all Labour voters) on support for smartphone free schools.
With warm words from Cabinet Secretaries in response to the launch of the Bill, the government is clearly open to the debate. And as our data shows, so too is the public.
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