SOCIAL MEDIA: ‘Swansea backs a ban’ says MP Torsten Bell as survey finds strong local support for child age limits
A Swansea MP says there is strong local support for restricting children’s use of social media, as a UK Government consultation on the issue draws to a close.
Torsten Bell, the MP for Swansea West, said he had found an “overwhelming consensus for action” among constituents after months of meetings, correspondence and an online survey.
He said the issue had generated more letters to his office than any other in 2026.
Of those who responded to his survey, 80% backed some degree of age restriction on social media use. Two-thirds of respondents were parents and a fifth were teachers, with more than 130 people taking part in the online survey.
The findings cap a campaign that has run for months. Bell first called an “emergency” public meeting back in April, saying the topic was already topping his postbag.
That meeting, held at Swansea’s Guildhall last month, drew a packed room of parents, teachers and residents, who heard from an expert panel and shared their own experiences.
The expert panel at Torsten Bell MP’s ‘Growing Up Safely in the Online World’ public meeting at Swansea’s Guildhall on 14 May 2026. (Image: Torsten Bell MP)
At that meeting, residents raised concerns about the time children spend on screens and the impact on their mental wellbeing — though some also questioned whether age restrictions could realistically be enforced.
Mr Bell said: “It’s been fantastic to see so much engagement from parents and community members across Swansea West.”
“I’d like to thank everyone who wrote to me, turned up to the meeting at the Guildhall, or took the survey on my website for their thoughtful and considered contribution to this debate. Swansea’s voice has been heard loud and clear, and Swansea backs a ban.”
He added: “I will make sure that voice is heard as the consultation ends and the time for action is here, because nothing is more important than the safety and future of our children.”
The UK Government consultation, which includes proposals to restrict social media use for under-16s, opened earlier this year, when Llanelli MP Dame Nia Griffith also urged parents and children across the area to take part.
The debate has been building across the region for months. Earlier this year, figures released to mark Safer Internet Day suggested half of parents had never spoken to their children about harmful online content, even as most 11-year-olds owned a smartphone.
The pressures are already being felt in local schools. In March, a school warned pupils they could face expulsion over abusive TikTok posts that caused “significant distress.”
The question of how to protect children online has also reached the Welsh Government, which recently ruled out a Wales-wide ban on mobile phones in schools, leaving the decision to individual schools.
With the consultation now closing, attention turns to how far the UK Government will go in regulating children’s access to social media — and whether the strength of feeling Mr Bell describes in Swansea is matched across the country.
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Dame Nia Griffith urged local families to respond as the consultation opened.
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