Parents should read their kids texts and check their phones, says top Tory Karen Bradley
She admitted to checking the phones of her own two sons, even though it annoys them.
CULTURE Secretary Karen Bradley called on parents to read their kids’ texts to protect them online - amid accusations the Tories have watered down their internet safety plans.
Speaking in a radio interview the mum of two admitted she checks her kids’ phones - much to the annoyance of her two sons.
Quizzed on how to keep children safe on BBC Radio 5live, she admitted it wasn’t “easy” to keep an eye on what youngsters are viewing online.
She said it was important to respect people’s rights to access material that wasn’t illegal.
But she said it was vital to “make sure child cannot access things that they shouldn’t access”.
Asked how parents should do this and if she took her 11 and 13 year olds’ phones and read their texts, she replied: “I do actually, yes much to their disappointment”.
It came as Labour blasted the Government for stepping back from forcing internet firms to pay a levy - instead making it voluntary.
Ms Bradley yesterday claimed bringing in new laws was “not the easiest way” to tackle the problem.
She defended making the levy voluntary despite a Tory general election manifesto promising legal powers to enforce such a move.
She told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme: “I don’t rule out legislating if that’s what we need to do but I hope we can do it on a voluntary basis working with the companies.
“It’s not backing away at all. It’s saying: ‘What is the best way to do this?”’
But last night Labour’s Shadow Culture secretary Tom Watson said internet giants like Facebook and Twitter have had almost a decade to deal with the issues - and failed.
He blasted: “The Culture Secretary seems to have bowed to pressure from the social media giants before her strategy had even been published.
“The Tories made a clear and unambiguous promise in their manifesto to bring forward legislation to compel social media providers and other internet firms to pay a levy - but it’s now been watered down to a voluntary levy.
“We know from the gambling industry that a voluntary system allows companies to ignore their responsibilities and to underpay.
“I find it hard to believe a voluntary code will change much.”
