Britain will ban children under 16 from using a range of social media apps, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday. The move, expected to take effect early next year, aims to protect young people from harmful content and excessive screen time.
Starmer, speaking at a press conference in London, said he is prepared to fight back if technology companies resist the ban and acknowledged that some teens may try to circumvent it. However, he emphasized that he is "not prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children." Starmer, who has two teenage children, stated, "Every parent can see it with their own eyes.
Social media is making children unhappy. I've heard first hand from families crying out for change and we will do right by them." The ban makes the U.K.
part of a growing global movement to tighten online safety for children, following similar actions by Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia. The U.K.
plans to follow the same model as Australia, which last year became the first country to bar under-16s from holding social media accounts. Platforms that fail to take reasonable steps to exclude children younger than 16 could face multimillion-dollar fines.
The ban will not apply to YouTube Kids or messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal. Starmer stressed that enforcement action will target tech companies, not children.
He also said the government will act to prevent strangers from contacting children on gaming and livestreaming platforms. Authorities are considering additional measures, including overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for those under 18.
More details are expected next month. The announcement followed a public comment period in which the government received 116,000 responses, with over 90% supporting an under-16 ban.
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" but must be accompanied by other measures. The NSPCC praised the government's ambition but urged authorities to ensure platforms roll out robust age checks and effectively enforce the policy.
Critics, including the Open Rights Group, expressed concerns about age verification companies and how users' private data is protected. A spokesperson for YouTube warned that a blanket social media restriction could "push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less-safe services." Starmer acknowledged the challenges but said success for the ban would mean "a massive drop off of children on social media" and "a cultural change, a sense that actually you can grow up differently." The ban could further inflame tensions with the U.S., which has warned that regulations should be narrow and not violate free speech protections.
The U.S. Embassy in London expressed concern that regulations would place greater burdens on American technology companies.
Starmer said he expected to discuss the issue with U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders at a Group of Seven summit in France.
Jon Crowcroft, a communications systems professor at the University of Cambridge, said people supporting social bans are well-meaning but probably misguided, and changes could prevent children from accessing sites they need. "There is a real risk this will drive some users to worse sites and policing devices is close to impossible technically," Crowcroft said.
"Policing platforms is far easier, if only regulators would bother."