Meeting of the Parliament 14 January 2016
I stand in support of the motion by Stewart Maxwell and congratulate him on bringing this important issue to the attention of Parliament. The issue of protecting children from harmful content is easily manipulated in terms of questions about whether we are being nanny statish in the way in which we approach the issue, and whether we are creating a problem where many people would say that freedom of access is pre-eminent. I offer the view that we are not being overly protective. Stewart Maxwell rehearsed for us in his speech issues that are of great concern to us.
Looking around the chamber, I hope that I am not being unkind to the members who are here when I say that the issue would probably be more productively discussed at the Scottish Youth Parliament, whose members would understand the issues a great deal better than the members who sit alongside me today, given our average age; SYP members are closer to the issue. I hope that I am not being unkind to my colleagues, but there is not only a lifetime of difference between our aspects, but centuries of difference between the approach that a 16 or 17-year-old would take to the matters that we are discussing and the approach that we are trying to develop here today.