Natasha Devon Tells Tom Swarbrick Social Media Has Changed The Landscape Of Our Culture
22 April 2018, 09:23
The mental health campaigner and writer told Tom Swarbrick that social media has completely changed the the landscape of our culture as Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt suggests new laws to safeguard children's mental health.
Jeremy Hunt has accused social media firms of "turning a blind eye" to young people by failing to protect them when using their platforms online.
The Health Secretary said he is "disappointed" by a lack of progress made on age verification, screen time limits, and cyber bullying and has given them a week to set out what steps they have taken in these areas of concern.
In a letter, he said: "This is both morally wrong and deeply unfair on parents, who are faced with the invidious choice of allowing children to use platforms they are too young to access, or excluding them from social interaction that often the majority of their peers are engaging in.
"It is unacceptable and irresponsible for you to put parents in this position."
Mr Hunt also said that the government could introduce new legislation to deal with the situation.
Mental health campaigner Natasha Devon told Tom Swarbrick social media had changed the landscape of our culture.
She said: "We're seeing a generation now who are born into a world of smartphones and instant internet access who can't imagine what the word would be like without that.
"I think Jeremy Hunt has suddenly realised this is having an impact because it has completely changed the landscape of our culture.
"Having said that, it's not going anywhere.
"I feel like a lot of the proposals are basically saying we want to turn back time and that's not going to happen."
