UK plans social media ban for under-16s

Keir Starmer is expected to announce a ban on social media use for children under 16, with the Guardian and the Financial Times reporting the policy will be unveiled in a speech on Monday, according to TechCrunch. Government sources told the Guardian the UK approach would cover a similar range of platforms as Australia’s ban, while carving out other products such as gaming apps but restricting features like chatting with strangers for younger users.

The proposal bundles several distinct controls under a single headline. TechCrunch reports the plan would also prohibit users under 18 from accessing romantic and sexual chatbots, and would seek to prevent late-night scrolling among young users. Some elements could be enforced under existing regulatory powers, while other parts may require new legislation. That sequencing matters: a policy announced as a sweeping ban can begin as a compliance push on platforms, with the harder parts — age checks, definitions of covered services, and penalties — arriving later when the political commitment has already been made.

The enforcement problem is embedded in the tool the government is likely to reach for. The UK has already passed an age verification law aimed at protecting children online, and TechCrunch notes age verification measures in multiple US states have drawn criticism as threats to privacy and anonymity. Verification methods are not foolproof, and any system strong enough to keep determined teenagers out tends to require more data collection from everyone else. Platforms that can cheaply add verification flows and moderation staff will treat the cost as overhead; smaller services and new entrants will face it as an entry fee.

The political case is being built around high-salience harms. The mother of murdered teen Brianna Ghey has called for a teen social media ban in the UK, and has said her daughter’s eating disorder and self-harming behaviour were significantly exacerbated by harmful content consumed online, TechCrunch reports. The policy offers ministers a clear message — fewer children on major platforms — while leaving the harder questions of what replaces those spaces, and how to handle migration to less visible services, to regulators and parents.

Starmer’s speech will set out the ambition, but the practical test will be whether the UK can define “social media” tightly enough to regulate without turning identity checks into the default login for large parts of the internet.