SafetyMode Letter to MPs: AI Firm Warns of ‘False Choices’ in Children’s Smartphone Safety

A British artificial intelligence company founded by one of the founders of fintech unicorn Tide has written to all MPs warning that the political debate over children’s smartphone use has reached a “false choice” between blanket restrictions and unrestricted access.

SafetyMode, the London-headquartered child safety technology company led by Tide founder George Bevis, used parliamentary intervention to pressure ministers to consider a third approach, arguing that device-based technology could give parents reasonable control without locking children out of the digital economy entirely.

Time is not by mistake. The letter arrives in Westminster mailboxes days after a landmark US court ruling found that several major Silicon Valley platforms had deliberately designed addictive products for young users, a decision that has fueled appetite among lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic for tougher action.

In Britain, the political landscape has changed dramatically in the last eighteen months, with the support structure of various parties for stricter restrictions on under-16s. However, the SafetyMode unit told the Members of Parliament that the discussion was premature.

“Right now, all the talk around social media and phone security seems like all we can do is open the floodgates completely or block them completely, losing all the benefits this technology could provide,” the company wrote in its letter, copies of which were seen by Business Matters.

The firm, founded by Mr. Bevis and Bertie Aspinall and product specialist Dan Barker, has spent the past two years developing what it says is one of the most sophisticated parental control platforms on the market. Unlike competing products that move children’s data through cloud servers, SafetyMode’s technology uses artificial intelligence directly on the device, filtering out dangerous content in real time while storing personal information on external servers.

The product was developed in partnership with parenting platform Mumsnet, whose research underpins a large part of the company’s commercial thesis. More than 90 per cent of parents surveyed told Mumsnet that current smartphones are not safe enough for children, while 86 per cent expressed concern about the impact of the devices on their child’s mental health and attention span.

Speaking to Business Matters, Mr Bevis said the political class was risking a readily available tool. “We are in a period of change in the way society views children and smartphones. It is clearly agreed that there is a problem, but the solutions discussed are very few. Legislation is important, but it takes time, and it will not be the only solution.”

Mr Aspinall, who is the founder of this company, commented as much. “Courts, governments, schools and parents all recognize the risk. But the companies at the heart of this won’t fix it themselves. So the question is, what do we have to do next? On the one hand is the law. But if we want to protect children now, the answer is simple. Build security into the device itself and put control back in the hands of parents.”

The company’s technology is designed to read context instead of simply scanning for prohibited keywords, identifying when conversations are abusive, sexual or otherwise harmful, even when those exchanges may pass normal filters.

Currently, SafetyMode is only available on Android handsets. The company has been an outspoken critic of Apple, arguing that the Cupertino giant’s restrictions on third-party developers prevent reasonable parental control over iPhone users, a complaint that echoes extensive regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s walled garden in Brussels and Washington.

There is also an industrial strategy side to corporate lobbying. SafetyMode positions Britain as a potential global hub for what it calls “child-safe technology”, arguing that ministers can combine child protection with a new wave of innovation, investment and skills creation if they choose to support homegrown firms developing security technology.

Whether MPs will accept it remains to be seen. Backbench pressure for stricter restrictions on under-16s using social media has intensified in recent months, with Whitehall showing limited enthusiasm for technical solutions that rely on parental involvement. But with US courts now exposing the platform’s behavior in unprecedented detail, a class action lawsuit of some sort seems inevitable.

The question asked by Mr Bevis and his colleagues in Parliament is whether that action should empower parents or simply close the door.