Bereaved parents fear that delaying a ban on social media could harm their children.

Two bereaved mothers fear that any delay in banning social media for youngsters could mean “more and more children are harmed.”

This comes just days after the Lords voted in favour of banning under-16 children from using social media services like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, similar to the move imposed by Australia last year.

Esther Ghee and Ellen Roome tell BBC Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that Ofcom, the regulator that oversees online safety laws, is not doing a good enough job of protecting children.

Ofcom, which introduced new rules last year to protect children from viewing harmful or inappropriate material online, said, “There is no illusion that there is still much more to do.”

one in the government’s crushing defeat on Wednesday Peers in the House of Lords backed the cross-party move by 261 votes to 150 – a majority of 111.

MPs in the Commons will now have to consider the Children’s Welfare and Schools Bill.

Liz Kendall, the Technology Secretary, has declared a three-month consultation period to weigh the pros and cons of a social media ban.

This will include exploring possible nightly curfews and actions to prevent “doom-scrolling” and will report to the government in the summer.

Ghee – whose 16-year-old daughter Briana Ghee was murdered in a park in February 2023 Two children planned their crime on social media apps – saying more needs to be done.

“As we wait, the harm to children continues to escalate,” Ghee stated.

“I’ve talked to you before about my story with Brianna and how much she’s had to endure.”

Brianna spent many hours on social media and her mother had previously said that her daughter wanted to become famous on TikTok.

He believes this contributed to his isolation and his mental health problems in the period leading up to Brianna’s death.

“The last two years of her life were total suffering and it’s such a waste,” Ghee said.

“We know that 500 children are being referred to mental health services every day and we also know that 97% of 12-year-olds have smartphones, so we need to do something now.”

Australia started forcing social media companies to block users under the age of 16 from having accounts on their platform in December.

Governments around the world, including Britain, closely monitor this policy.

Australia’s ban was described by campaigners

 The government considers it necessary to safeguard children from harmful online content and algorithms.

Companies including Meta have said they agree that more is needed to keep young people safe online, but they don’t think a blanket ban is the answer, with some experts raising similar concerns.

Ellen Roome—another bereaved mother whose son, Julian “Jules” Sweeney, died while taking part in a social media challenge— joined the technology secretary at a meeting on Tuesday with parents who have lost children in circumstances related to online safety.

The 49-year-old man from Gloucestershire told the BBC, “How long can we continue to allow children unregulated access?

“I think, how long can we keep giving kids unregulated access? They’ve got access to everything, and I think that really needs to end, this whole thing of waiting and watching and waiting,” Roome said on the programme.

“I just think, basically, if it were a product, it would have been taken off the road, fixed up, and handed back to them.” What the hell, take it.”

A group of parents in the US state of Delaware has sued TikTok.

Ofcom said that since its new powers came into force last summer, it has “launched investigations into more than 90 platforms” and “issued multiple fines”.

An Ofcom spokesperson said, “As a result of our action, age checks to protect children from pornography and other harmful material are now widespread, with many high-risk sites blocked, while child sexual exploitation material is being dealt with more effectively.”

While significant progress has been made in this industry, which has been unregulated and unaccountable for over 20 years, we remain aware that there is still much more work to be done.

“We will continue to work diligently to bring about change so that children in the UK can enjoy safe lives online, and we remain grateful for the support and insight we have received from victims, survivors, and bereaved families.”