Submitted on Thursday 1st May 2025
Rejected on Tuesday 13th May 2025
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: duplicate (see below for details)
Ban the ownership of smartphones and camera phones for children under 16
I call for the government to ban the sale of, or provision of smartphones, or camera phones to under 16s.
This would be punishable by a £2000 fine, to the adult who provided the child with the phone.
I call for the government to make it illegal for under 16s to hold any social media accounts.
Smartphones and camera phones are having a devastating impact on young people in Britain. Children have access to huge amounts of material online, a lot of which is harmful to the child exposed to it.
There is an epidemic of issues related to internet usage and social media; cyber bullying, issues around sending and receiving sexualised images, unrealistic expectations around body image and appearance.
Smartphones are damaging the mental and physical health of our children and adolescents.
You can't sign this petition because it was rejected. But you can still comment on it here at Repetition.me!
The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
There's already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.
You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:
Ban the sale, ownership and access to smartphones for children 16 and under
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/714201
216.73.217.50 Sun, 21 Jun 2026 03:40:30 +0100
