5x15:
Can We Reclaim Childhood from Big Tech?: Beeban Kidron & Sandi Toksvig

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” – Nelson Mandela

Childhood has been transformed in little more than a decade. Social media, smartphones and AI are reshaping how children learn, play, relate to one another and understand themselves. The online world we have today wasn’t inevitable. It was designed.

Join filmmaker, campaigner and digital rights pioneer Baroness Beeban Kidron and writer, broadcaster and comedian Sandi Toksvig for an urgent conversation about childhood, technology and democracy.

Drawing on her powerful new book, USERS: How Big Tech Took Control and How to Fight Back, Beeban argues that today’s digital world was not built with children in mind. It was built to capture attention, maximise engagement and generate profit. But if the internet we have today is the result of choices, different choices can build something better.

Together, Beeban and Sandi will explore how technology came to reshape childhood, why the internet has been allowed to play by different rules, and what it would take to build a digital world where children can truly flourish.

Join us at Conway Hall for an urgent conversation about the future of childhood in the digital age.

Praise for USERS:

‘A thrilling story of how democracies can respond to the world’s most powerful industry, told by the woman who is leading the charge.’ Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation

‘Beeban has spent her life watching what Big Tech does to childhood. We fight the same battle. USERS is her reckoning and her roadmap: we must demand better – but only if we have the courage. Read it. Then join our fight!‘ Maria Ressa, journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate

‘This book will help us understand how high the stakes are and how we can fight back.’ Sir Elton John and David Furnish

5×15. Where great stories are told live.

Age Recommendation:

16+

Price:

*A £2 venue levy is applied to each ticket purchased. This levy helps to support us in covering the costs of keeping our grade II listed building running and our doors open.*

Premium £60 • Early Bird £32 • Concessions £27   (+£2 venue levy)

Access Information

This event is in the Main Hall, which is located on the ground floor.

All the ground-floor rooms are fully accessible by wheelchair. Main Hall (street access, step-free), Brockway Room (street access, step-free), Russell Room (street access, shallow ramp), Cafe (street access, step-free). There is also an accessible toilet on the ground floor opposite the Brockway Room.