Local North London founder says the answer to children’s online safety is not just banning social media, but redesigning the technology children use every day.

Just weeks after launching Rebel Telecom and its child-first smartphone, the Rebel Phone, local London entrepreneur and screen addiction specialist Munur Shah led the conversation in Parliament, where leading experts agreed that protecting children online requires far more than a social media ban.

Speaking at the cross-party parliamentary briefing Beyond the Ban: Building Digital Resilience for the Next Generation, hosted by Clive Lewis MP, Munur joined children’s rights campaigner and author of Users? Baroness Beeban Kidron OBE and Work Ready Collective co-founder Lou Robey to discuss the future of children’s online safety.

The event came at a pivotal moment, following the launch of Rebel Telecom’s purpose-built smartphone, created specifically to give children a safer introduction to technology.

Unlike traditional smartphones that rely on parental controls being added after purchase, the Rebel Phone has been designed from the ground up with children’s wellbeing at its core. Powered by RebelOS, the device removes many of the features that contribute to unhealthy digital habits while giving parents greater confidence that their children can stay connected without unrestricted access to harmful content.

Throughout the parliamentary discussion, one message emerged consistently.

Children’s online safety is fundamentally a design problem, not simply a content problem.

Rather than expecting children to resist technology deliberately engineered to maximise engagement, speakers argued that technology companies must take greater responsibility for creating products that support healthy childhood development.

Munur Shah, founder of Rebel Therapies and joint CEO of Rebel Telecom, said,

“For too long we’ve placed commercially addictive technology into children’s hands and expected children and parents to solve the problem on their own. That isn’t a failure of families. It’s a failure of design.”

“The Rebel Phone was created because we believe children deserve technology designed for childhood from the very beginning, not adult devices adapted with parental controls as an afterthought.”

The discussion highlighted a growing consensus that simply restricting access to social media will not solve the wider challenges facing children growing up in an increasingly digital world.

Among the key themes discussed were:

• Children’s online safety is fundamentally a design challenge.

• Children have a right not to be commercially exploited online.

• Social media bans alone cannot solve the problem.

• Ethical technology should become the new standard for childhood.

• Education, parents, policymakers and technology companies all have a shared responsibility.

One of the strongest messages to emerge from Parliament was:

“If you are not an adult online, you cannot fully become an adult offline.”

For Munur, the launch of Rebel Telecom was never intended to be another mobile phone company. It was designed as a practical solution to many of the issues he has witnessed while supporting families through Rebel Therapies.

Work Ready Collective co-founder Lou Robey added, “We need to stop treating online safety, digital wellbeing and future employability as separate conversations. If we want young people to thrive in tomorrow’s economy, we have to build digital confidence on foundations of wellbeing, healthy habits and ethical technology.”

The parliamentary discussion reinforced the direction already being taken by organisations such as Rebel Telecom and Work Ready Collective, with speakers calling for greater collaboration between government, education and industry to create healthier digital environments for future generations.

Munur concluded, “The question is no longer whether children need protecting online. It’s whether we’re prepared to redesign technology so that it protects them by default.”

The Rebel Phone is available now through Rebel Telecom as part of the company’s mission to create healthier digital habits for the next generation. This is something we will be looking at purchasing for my children.