"Protecting Eric from Social Media: Why We're Keeping His Smartphone Away and Pushing for Government Action"

TV star Simon Cowell’s fiancée Lauren strongly believes social media MUST be made safe for our children.

The US socialite, 48, is a determined campaigner for tougher curbs.

Simon and Lauren have agreed not to let son Eric access social media Credit: Getty Tragic Jools Sweeney, with mum Ellen Roome Credit: PA

Her passion for change is driven by her sons – Adam, 20, from a previous relationship and – plus the anguish of parents who blame online content for their child’s death.

This week, the Government finally agreed to bring in stronger, following pressure from grieving mums and dads.

Here, Lauren – who does not allow Eric to use social media – explains why more needs to be done . . . 

WHEN I heard what had happened to 14-year-old , it broke my heart.

Lauren and Simon have given him a basic ‘brick phone’ so he can text and use WhatsApp while staying off smartphones Credit: Getty Simon and Lauren won’t allow Eric to access social media Credit: Getty

After he had been playing ­happily with his friends one afternoon, his mother .

Jools was one of several British children who died in 2022 having seemingly copied a deadly challenge shown on .

I thought, “God forbid, this could have been my child”.

My youngest son Eric, 12, isn’t much younger than Jools was, and my eldest Adam, 20, is close to the age Jools would be now.

Jools Sweeney’s mum Ellen is one of the parents behind a campaign called Raise The Age, which wants the restriction on access to social media to be raised from 13 to 16 Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has been forced to commit to implementing social media restrictions for under-16s Credit: AP

Since then, myself and Simon have met Ellen, who is a remarkable woman taking on the big tech giants.

Ellen is one of the parents behind a campaign called Raise The Age, which wants the restriction on access to social media to be raised from 13 to 16.

The policy was opposed by the UK Government, but they finally saw sense this week and agreed to .

There is no issue more important to parents right now. It’s what everyone cares about.

Making social media safe is the topic that dominates all my parent group chats.

In our family we have already made up our minds.

Me and Simon won’t allow our son Eric to access social media.

We recently gave him a brick phone so he can communicate with his friends by text and .

A lot of his friends use , but I said no to that platform because I believe it is one of the least safe products.

Eric is fine with that decision because we have had so many ­discussions about the dangers.

But a lot of parents are not aware of the risks, particularly on seemingly innocuous sites such as , Pinterest and CapCut.

It is unreasonable to expect ­parents to monitor everything their children do online.

Instead, it should be the government which keeps them safe.

The evidence we hear is sick.

The tech companies knew their ­platforms were addictive and yet they kept going, inventing new ways to keep our children hooked.

Some told our politicians that their products were safe, even though their own internal research showed they did not believe it.

In my , these firms put profits ahead of children’s safety, and that is absolutely unacceptable.

We have seen groundbreaking court cases in the US which ruled that these platforms were intentionally designed to be addictive and were endangering children.

Our children could not wait any longer because they were dying as a result of what they saw and experienced online.

This movement isn’t about a total ban on the internet.

It is about a restriction on unsafe and harmful social media.

We want an end to infinite scrolling where children are sent ­material they did not ask for, and an end to strangers being able to message them.

Those firms that make their products safe will be available — those that don’t must restrict access by or face massive fines.

I met with Lord Nash, who has been calling in the House of Lords for tougher controls on social media.

It was his pressure which forced the Education Secretary to commit to implementing social media restrictions for under-16s. I hear people saying that restrictions won’t work because children will find workarounds.

However, we haven’t given up on age restrictions for alcohol just because some children still get their hands on booze.

When seatbelt laws were first passed, many people ignored them.

But eventually, the message got through that they save lives.

Now, it is natural to strap in safely.

The Government U-turn doesn’t mean the fight is over.

Far from it.

We need to keep the pressure on them to act quickly.

Our children cannot wait years, because they are dying every month as a result of what they see online.

I made a vow to Ellen, who I consider to be a close friend, to not give up until social media is safe for our children.

I have huge respect for the families that are campaigning for this change.

They know it won’t bring their children back.

But they want to do everything in their power to stop anyone else experiencing these horrors.