'My children can use Facebook but I WILL snoop on them': Cameron worries holiday snaps could harm their job prospects



PM reveals he will let his children use social network when they are older

But he wants to have access to their pages to monitor what they post

Calls for an end to jokes which make light of rape and sexual violence

Reveals fears about impact of images of women in the media on daughters



David Cameron has revealed he will allow his children to have Facebook accounts – but only if he can monitor what they post.

The Prime Minister said he was worried that holiday snaps uploaded to social networking sites could stop his three children from securing jobs in future.

He also revealed he has started talking to his nine-year-old daughter Nancy about the pressures put on young girls by images of women in the media.

Snaps: David Cameron, who is worried about the impact of embarrassing holiday photos on future job prospects, was pictured last week buying squid with wife Samantha in Portugal

Dangers: The Prime Minister said he was worried about his children's access to the internet, including using his iPad

Mr Cameron has spearheaded a government crackdown on 'poisonous' websites which he says are 'corroding childhood'.

In a major speech last week he announced every householder connected to the internet will have their access to online porn blocked unless they ask to receive it. Pornography depicting rape will be outlawed.

But in an interview with Grazia magazine Mr Cameron insisted children could not be shielded from the internet entirely.

He allows Nancy, Arthur aged seven and Florence, who will be three next month, to use an iPad but none have mobile phones.

Worries: The Prime Minister, pictured carrying daughter Florence, revealed his concern about the impact of images of women in the media

Asked if his children will be allowed to use Facebook when they are older, the PM replied: ‘Yes. I think Facebook is a way that lots of people communicate. I’m sounding like a total fogey now.

‘All I want is to able to see their Facebook pages to start with. When we were young we went on holiday and took pictures and put them in a cupboard, and every now and then you got them out.

‘Now everyone shows their pictures on Facebook, they need to think: well, what about that job interview [in the future]?’

Ironically Mr Cameron was mocked last week for his own holiday photos after he was pictured in a Portuguese fish market with his wife.



Under Facebook rules, children can only create an account when they are 13.

But thousands of youngsters are thought to sign up, often without their parents' knowledge.

Mr Cameron revealed he and wife Samantha already talk to eldest daughter Nancy about images of women in the media.

‘It’s just good advice about judging people by what they do and say and not how they look.’

In his speech last week Mr Cameron unveiled plans for tougher web filtering or explicit porn sites.

But he suggests the restrictions could go further, to cover sites which promote self-harm.

He adds: ‘I worry about my children buying things, as happens now with in-app purchase.

‘You’ve set up some football game and the next thing you know you own half of Real Madrid.’

Snapped: The Prime Minister - who has been criticised in the past for his choice of holiday wear - last week wore a pair of loafers (worn without socks) for the visit to the Portuguese fish market

He went on: ‘Porn has always been available, boys have always tried to get hold of top-shelf magazines, but this is happening much earlier.

‘There are expectations about what sex is, about what relationships are, being altered by this stuff because children aren’t old enough to process it properly.’

‘That has a very corrosive effect: forming loving relationships is one of the most important things that can happen.’

Mr Cameron also suggests there needs to be a ‘national dialogue’ about jokes which make light of rape and sexual violence, in the same way that racism in comedy has been stamped out.

‘Jokes about race were told when I was a boy that are now completely unacceptable, and that’s right,’ he added.