Giving evidence to The Times Crime and Justice Commission – a year-long project considering the most urgent problems facing police, prisons, courts and victims – Matt Jukes said his team had discussed a ban on social media use by children with colleagues in Australia, which passed world-first legislation on the issue last year.
Britain’s head of counter-terrorism policing has called for Parliament to “explore” implementing age verification on social media sites as he compared the harm caused by social media to the “cancer” caused by smoking.
While Mr Jukes credited Parliament for passing the Online Safety Act, he said it may need to be strengthened to require platforms to police private messages.
Asked if he supported Australia’s decision to ban children under 16 from using social media, Mr Jukes said: “We have spoken to Australian colleagues about that.
His comments come after it was revealed that Southport killer Axel Rudakubana watched violent and extremist videos online prior to killing three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29 last year.
