Most adults have no idea what children see on social media, and if they did, they would be horrified.

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Young boys are being shown pornography and violence. And I don’t mean just some; most 13-year-old boys have seen porn on social media. And young girls are being shown material that makes them hate themselves. The NEU have done a brilliant and terrifying simulation of what children see on these apps, and it’s sickening.

Even worse, this is not content children are seeking out. It is content they are powerless to prevent being exposed to, with big tech serving it up to them through algorithms they cannot control. Seventy per cent of boys report seeing real life violence online, while only 6 per cent say they were looking for it.

LBC’s own Online Safety Day investigation showed how quickly a newly created TikTok account posing as a 13-year-old girl was exposed to disturbing material. Children are not choosing this content. Big tech is choosing it for them.

Bereaved parents have spoken with extraordinary courage about losing their children and are urging the Government to act now so other families are spared the same loss. Peers from all parties, barring Labour, recognised the urgency of the problem when they voted overwhelmingly for a ban on social media for under-16s. It is no surprise that many parents were therefore deeply disappointed when Labour MPs chose not to support that amendment in the Commons. Instead, ministers chose consultation. That matters because consultation means delay.

The Government is not consulting on how to implement a ban. It is consulting on whether one should exist at all. That keeps every option open, including doing nothing at all. Instead, the consultation proposes a series of half-baked alternatives that do not match the scale of what children are facing. It suggests social media “curfews”, as though harmful material only appears late at night. Forty per cent of children report being shown explicit content during the school day. Exposure to pornography, violence and grooming is not a late-night problem. It is constant and happening right now.

The consultation also argues that we “need solutions that add to, rather than take away from, childhoods”. But social media is already taking something away from childhood. Journeys home from school that once meant conversation now mean scrolling. Playgrounds are quieter. Friendship is increasingly mediated through algorithms designed to keep children online for as long as possible and away from real human contact.

It even points to children sharing “short dance videos on TikTok” and posting “artwork on Instagram” as evidence of benefit. That is not a serious answer to the amount of harm that children are being exposed to. Too often, we are being asked to prove that screen use is blighting childhood. We should simply ask: where's the evidence that it’s safe?

A quarter of primary school children have already seen pornography, most of it via social media. Seventy per cent of teenagers have seen real-life violence online. Criminals are grooming children on mainstream platforms. Snapchat is referenced in almost half of child sexual abuse imagery cases. Meta’s platforms account for a quarter. These are not edge cases. They are becoming the norm.

Some critics say this is a matter for parents. And of course, parents should always be the first line of defence, and they do have a central role to play. But parents cannot take on global technology companies on their own. Protecting children where families cannot reasonably do so alone is one of the most basic responsibilities of government. This is a safeguarding issue, and Labour has its head in the sand.

Choosing consultation over action now risks handing ministers a blank cheque to delay, while more children are exposed to harms we already understand. Peers were clear about the strength of feeling on this issue when they voted the first time. Tonight they have the opportunity to say so again and to give Labour MPs a second chance to do the right thing.

Parents across the country are watching closely. So are the families who have already lost their children and are asking only that others be spared the same fate. This opportunity is in front of us now. It should not be missed. Labour MPs will not be forgiven if they fail to act now, and I will not give up the fight.

Laura Trott is the Shadow Education Secretary.

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