Written question asked by Scott Arthur (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 2 July 2026. It was answered by Kanishka Narayan (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Social Media: Children
- Question
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To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential risks of age verification methods involving facial or biometric data to enforce a social media ban for under-16s.
- Answer
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I have asked Ofcom to rapidly assess what constitutes highly effective age assurance for establishing whether someone is over 16, prioritising data privacy and security, and considering how it can work for all users.
The ICO’s age-appropriate design code already requires online services to meet additional standards when processing children’s data, including on security, minimisation and sharing.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 14664
- Session
- 2026-27
- Subjects
- Children Biometrics Social media Age assurance
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-07-08 17:26:06 +0100
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/14664
- In Indexing
- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/14664
- In Solr
- https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/14664