Beyond the Binary – Part 2
In February 2026, our CEO Louisa wrote Beyond the Binary: Why Digital Safety Needs Nuanced, Inclusive Debate
As news of the UK Government’s social media ban spreads, Louisa and our Youth Board wrote this in response:
You cannot ban your way to online safety
The Government’s proposal to ban social media for under-16s reflects a growing concern that many parents, educators and young people share: the online world can expose children and teenagers to serious harm. That concern is real, and action is needed.
But a ban is not a strategy.
For years, we have known that the relationship between young people, social media and mental health is complex. Yet rather than investing at scale in digital literacy, online safety education and meaningful support for families, we have allowed the debate to become dominated by the idea that removing access is the solution.
Young people do not need a generation of adults deciding what should be taken away from them. They need a generation of adults willing to help them understand the world they are growing up in.
Social media can be a place of harm, but it can also be a place of connection, creativity, identity, activism, learning and support. For many young people, especially those who feel isolated or marginalised offline, online communities can provide a lifeline.
The answer to an unsafe digital world is not to pretend that young people can simply be removed from it until they turn 16. The answer is to prepare them for it.
A blanket ban risks creating a false sense of security. It risks delaying the vital conversations, education and skills-building that children and teenagers need to navigate online spaces safely throughout their lives.
The real failure has not been that young people have had access to technology. The real failure has been that we have not equipped them, their parents and their schools with the tools to understand it, nor demanded that technology companies design with safety as a priority.
If we are serious about protecting young people online, we need a response that matches the scale of the challenge:
- Hold technology companies accountable for the safety of their products through robust regulation and actionable enforcement.
- Embed meaningful digital literacy and online safety education throughout childhood and adolescence.
- Equip parents and carers with the confidence and knowledge to guide their children’s digital lives.
- Listen to young people and include them in shaping the policies that affect them.
Young people should not be forced to choose between being safe and being connected. They deserve both.
At Beyond, we believe the future of online safety lies not in exclusion, but in education; not in fear, but in understanding; and not in making decisions about young people, but in building solutions with them.
To explore our free youth-approved lesson materials on digital and AI literacy, click here.
