Majority of young people want better online protections, according to results of major government consultation

Most young people want stronger protections on the internet, according to the results of a major government consultation. 

A majority of people under 21 said they wanted restrictions on explicit image sharing, livestreaming, infinite scrolling and location sharing when they responded to the Growing Up in an Online World consultation.

The results come days before the government is expected to announce major new restrictions on how young people exist online.

"The message from young people is clear - they want to feel safe online and they are right to demand it," said the technology secretary Liz Kendall.

"We have listened. We know what needs to change and we have the powers to do it. We are determined to act and we will set out our response very soon."

One hundred and sixteen thousand people responded to the consultation in total, making it one of the biggest responses to a government consultation in recent years. Among them, over 14,000 people aged 10-21 shared their experiences.

Over a third of the young people wanted limits on autoplay videos and 66% supported age restrictions on the use of AI chatbots.

However, 84% thought children would find workarounds to any restrictions imposed by the government. Nearly three in four worried about feeling left out if restrictions came in.

In Australia, where the world's first social media ban is already in place, social media users are expected to verify they are over 16 using AI facial age estimation, credit cards or ID.

These are the same methods now used in the UK to stop children accessing adult content online.

However, research by the Molly Rose Foundation recently found that more than 60% of children in Australia were still on social media, despite the restrictions.

When Sky News asked the technology secretary earlier in the week whether she plans to improve age verification techniques to enforce restrictions, she said: "You will have to wait until we announce the results of the consultation.

"One of the lessons we take from Australia is lots of kids have tried to get around [restrictions], but lots of children try to get around drinking underage, or smoking underage or having sex underage. This is what young people do.

"It doesn't mean you shouldn't take a decision about what's right and enforce it as best as you can."

The Home Office this week announced new measures to introduce device-level blocks on nude images on UK phones, which adults can turn off by verifying their ages.

Tech companies have three months to introduce the blocks that are designed to stop children from sending, taking or saving nude images on their phones or tablets.

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