More than 100,000 people have contacted their local MP since the grassroots organisation Smartphone Free Childhood launched an email campaign on Tuesday evening with a template calling for “reasonable, age-appropriate boundaries”.

Keir Starmer suggested a UK ban might be near. He mentioned monitoring Australia’s actions and considering protections for under-16s on social media and screen time for under-5’s.

Starmer has previously opposed banning social media for children, believing such a move would be difficult to police and could push teenagers towards the dark web.

Pressure continues to mount on the government to ban social media for under-16s after a fortnight of controversy about Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool being used to digitally remove the clothes of women and children.