“I would liken social media to a gateway drug.”
The mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey says the UK government needs to act quickly and not “kick the can down the road” on a social media ban.
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Speaking to the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast she says children are already being harmed and urges MPs to vote for a ban the next time the bill goes to the Commons.
Esther Ghey has previously detailed how she believes her daughter’s social media addiction contributed to her mental health issues, leading her to take risks with her personal safety.
“Brianna wasn’t alone,” says Ghey. “We know that there are each day, in England alone, 500 mental health referrals for children and we need to really think what is impacting this, why is there such an increase in mental health issues, why is there an increase in peer and peer violence in schools, why is there a difficulty retaining teachers in schools.
“We need to move now because as we’re waiting, more and more children are being harmed.”
To listen to the full episode of this podcast, tap the link ► https://www.theguardian.com/politics/audio/2026/jan/28/matt-goodwin-becomes-reform-uk-candidate-and-esther-ghey-on-banning-social-media-podcast
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