UK plans social media ban for under-16s

Britain plans to bar children under 16 from major social media platforms including TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday, saying the government must act against online content that is harmful and “designed to be addictive.”

Starmer said the ban would put responsibility on technology companies, not children, and warned that platforms could face large fines if they fail to take reasonable steps to keep under-16s off their services. The government plans to pass regulations before Christmas, with the BBC and CBS News reporting that the ban would be introduced by spring 2027. NPR reported the move was expected to take effect early next year.

“Every parent can see it with their own eyes. Social media is making children unhappy,” Starmer said. “I’ve heard first hand from families crying out for change and we will do right by them.”

He added: “It is clear to me a full ban is the right choice.”

The government said the ban would apply to platforms “whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material.” Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal are not expected to be included, nor is YouTube Kids, which is designed for children and includes parental controls.

Starmer said Britain would go further than Australia, whose model the UK says it will follow. The government plans to restrict features that allow children to communicate with strangers on gaming and livestreaming platforms. It is also considering overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under-18s, with more details expected in July. The BBC reported that AI “romantic companion” chatbots will have to enforce a minimum age of 18, and AI chatbots more broadly will have to restrict “intimate functionalities” for under-18s.

“Is there a situation in the offline world where you would just let your child pair up with a stranger, an adult that you don’t know anything about? No, so we’re taking action on that,” Starmer said.

The announcement followed a public consultation that drew more than 116,000 responses, the government said. More than 90% of respondents supported an under-16 ban, according to NPR.

Some bereaved parents welcomed the plan. Esther Ghey, whose 16-year-old daughter Brianna was killed in 2023 by two teenagers who had accessed harmful content online, said the ban would “potentially save so many children’s lives,” while urging additional safeguards. Mariano Janin, whose 14-year-old daughter Mia died after being cyberbullied, told the BBC the announcement left him “speechless” and called it “a change in the right direction.”

Others raised concerns. Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life after viewing harmful content online, accused the government ahead of the announcement of rushing restrictions for political reasons and said “sledgehammer techniques like bans” cause more problems. Some teenagers told the BBC they worried a ban would limit their ability to connect with friends and express themselves.

Technology companies also criticized the plan. YouTube said a blanket restriction could push children toward “anonymous, less safe services.” Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said bans risk isolating teens from online communities and information and should instead rely on age verification at the device level. Snapchat said a ban “may simply push them to less safe platforms.”

The government said “highly effective age assurance” would be used, such as age estimation or ID checks, and Ofcom has been asked to study the best ways to verify whether users are over 16. Critics, including the Open Rights Group, have raised privacy concerns around age verification, while others have warned that tools such as VPNs could be used to evade restrictions.

The plan places Britain among a growing group of countries pursuing tighter rules for children online. Australia became the first country to approve a ban on social media accounts for under-16s, though implementation has been difficult. The BBC reported that 70% of parents told Australia’s internet regulator their children were still using the platforms.