Adolescence makers meet Starmer at Downing Street

The co-writer and producer of hit Netflix drama Adolescence have taken part in a meeting with the prime minister in Downing Street to discuss how to prevent young people from being influenced by toxic material online.

Sir Keir Starmer described Jack Thorne's drama about a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering a girl as "at times harrowing".

It served as "a torch that shines intensely brightly on a combination of issues that many people don't know how to respond to", he said.

The meeting came as Netflix said it would make the series available to screen for free in schools, a move Sir Keir welcomed as "an important initiative to encourage as many pupils as possible to watch the show".

The programme has sparked a national conversation about the impact of social media and "manosphere" influencers.

Thorne, who wrote the show with actor Stephen Graham, recently said the prime minister should "rather urgently" consider a smartphone ban in schools and a "digital age of consent", similar to Australia, which has passed a law banning children under 16 from using social media.

Thorne and producer Jo Johnson gave their views to Sir Keir on Monday, along with selected charities and young people.

The prime minister said the show had "lit a touch paper" but told the attendees there was no simple solution.

"To be honest, as a dad, I have not found it easy viewing," he said.

"It instantly contacts with the fears and worries, not just of young people - because I was really struck by how riveted our children were to it - but also frankly the fears and worries of parents and adults across the country."

He added: "Perhaps there isn't one single silver bullet response, some policy lever that can be pulled. It is actually much bigger than that, almost a cultural issue."

He said the show highlighted "the devastating effect of misogyny on our society", plus "the dangers of online radicalisation and this sense of young people being on their own, very often in their bedroom or wherever, isolated with that online radicalisation", and "the challenges our children, schools and families face every day".

The drama will be available to all UK secondary schools through the Into Film+ schools streaming service.

In a statement, Thorne said: "To have the opportunity to take this into schools is beyond our expectations. We hope it'll lead to teachers talking to the students, but what we really hope is it'll lead to students talking amongst themselves."

The government pointed to measures including the Online Safety Act, which says social media companies will have to protect children from harmful material including pornography, material promoting self-harm, bullying and content encouraging dangerous stunts.

Platforms will be expected to adopt "age assurance technologies" to prevent children from seeing harmful content.

However, the government said that legislation was "not the end of the conversation".

Adolescence made history in the UK when it became the first streaming show to top the weekly TV ratings, with the first episode watched by almost 6.5 million people in its first week.

It has had similar success around the world, with Netflix reporting that it had 66 million global views in its first two weeks.