Kate Winslet: Parents feel powerless over children's social media use

The authorities should marque societal media firms enforce property limits to assistance tackle their interaction connected children's intelligence health, histrion Kate Winslet has said.

Speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, she said parents consciousness "utterly powerless" astir however to assistance their children navigate societal media.

Winslet said information checks could beryllium much rigorous and those successful powerfulness "should measurement up" to support children.

She was speaking up of the motorboat of her caller Channel 4 movie I Am Ruth.

The feature-length play sees Winslet playing other her real-life girl Mia Threapleton arsenic the parent of a teen whose intelligence wellness begins to endure arsenic she becomes progressively consumed by the pressures of societal media.

Winslet said the determination to absorption connected children's intelligence wellness followed a speech with the film's creator Dominic Savage astir however parents tin assistance "when they tin intelligibly spot there's a problem".

But she said that the play had to beryllium astir much than a kid obsessed with their phone.

It had to screen "what's really going connected with that phone, however it impacts connected their self-esteem, however it impacts connected eating habits, their intelligence authorities successful presumption of reasoning astir things similar self-harm," Winslet said.

In the two-hour drama, to beryllium shown connected Channel 4 connected Thursday 8 December, Winslet plays Ruth who is simply a azygous parent of two, including 17-year-old Freya.

The movie shows Freya becoming little communicative and falling down astatine schoolhouse arsenic she retreats further into herself arsenic her narration with societal media becomes progressively destructive.

The satellite of societal media is "frightening to parents due to the fact that we don't truly cognize what's there", Winslet said.

"We don't cognize truly what's going connected successful their relationship groups anymore due to the fact that truthful overmuch of it is really built connected phones, wrong phones.

"This satellite that you tin burrow deeper and deeper into it, and it becomes darker and trickier and much, overmuch harder for children to navigate.

"I deliberation due to the fact that people, young children, are having phones astatine a overmuch earlier age, they're capable to entree things that emotionally they're conscionable not equipped oregon blase capable to cognize however to process."

Asked whether she thought determination should beryllium much ineligible regularisation of societal media, Winslet said she struggled with societal media and its interaction connected teenage intelligence health.

"I bash privation that our authorities would ace down connected it. I bash privation that determination would beryllium definite platforms that were banned earlier a definite age. I privation that information checks would beryllium overmuch much rigorous," she said.

She said determination should beryllium "more extortion and accountability" due to the fact that parents "are near flailing".

"I conscionable deliberation that the radical who cognize that they could bash amended to support our children should conscionable beryllium doing that. Whoever those radical are, they cognize who they are, they should conscionable measurement up and bash better," she said.

Winslet's remark travel arsenic the authorities is accused of watering down authorities aimed astatine regulating net content.

Ian Russell, the begetter of teen Molly Russell, who ended her beingness aft viewing termination and self-harm contented online, said the measure had been watered down and the determination mightiness person been made for governmental reasons to assistance it walk much quickly.

In a statement, Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan told BBC News that "unregulated societal media is hurting our children and it indispensable end".

She added that the "strengthened Online Safety Bill" she is bringing backmost to Parliament "will let parents to spot and enactment connected the dangers sites airs to young people".

"Young radical volition beryllium safeguarded, criminality stamped retired and adults fixed power implicit what they spot and prosecute with online," Ms Donelan said.