Rejected petition 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.

More details

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.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

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
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/714201

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 1 May 2025
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