The government wants Facebook to let you mass delete all your cringe teen posts

Have you always dreamed of deleting all your cringey, pre-18 social media history without having to check each post one by one?

The Conservative Party is here to serve you.

Under campaign pledges announced by UK Prime Minister Theresa May ahead of the June 8 snap elections, social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter will be forced to allow people to wipe out their whole pre-adulthood posting history. 

It's a sort of "right to remove" or "right to innocence" measure, and companies that fail to do that could face fines.

"The internet has brought a wealth of opportunity but also significant new risks which have evolved faster than society's response to them," May said.

"We want social media companies to do more to help redress the balance and will take action to make sure they do."

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said she already had "early conversations" with social media companies which showed they were willing to work with the government on introducing "new protections against internet harms."

In the government's intention, that should stop children accidentally stumbling on "hate speech, pornography or other sources of harm."

Naturally, you can delete your social media posts right now -- as well as your profile -- but the measure should save you the pain to go through them one by one and allow you to erase them in bulk without losing any online friends.

When contacted by Mashable, Twitter sent the following quotes from Antony Walker, Deputy CEO of techUK:

"It is important that any requirements placed upon private companies to take down content are underpinned by a clear legal framework that is consistent with international norms and the positive benefits of a global open internet," Walker said.

"New legislation must always be carefully thought through, and we urge all political parties to avoid broad brush policy solutions to the complex challenges of the digital age."

Facebook declined to comment.

According to Rudd, these and other safeguards are needed to prevent "inappropriate" content from your wild teenage past making an unwanted comeback when you start applying and interviewing for jobs.

It remains to be seen how certain questions will be addressed, such as being tagged or shared by other people, but Conservative sources told the BBC the plan was not "overly prescriptive."

The plan "will be backed up with a statutory sanctions regime," meaning that regulators will be able to fine or prosecute those companies who failed in their legal duties.

Facebook has been warned...