In a move to protect children online and address the scale of the challenge, the government will also go further than a blanket ban on social media with world-leading blocks on harmful functions such as live streaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s. These restrictions – which together with the ban go further than any other country – will apply to a wider range of online services, including on gaming sites.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“Parents want to keep their kids safe and happy, but the online world has made that harder than ever.
I’ve heard first hand from families crying out for change and we will do right by them.
That’s why we’re going further than any country in the world by banning social media for under-16s and putting wider protections in place to give kids their childhood back.
This is a line in the sand. Tech giants had their chance and failed, but we’re stepping in to protect children, back parents and set a new normal for future generations.”
The government plans to use the same model for a social media ban as Australia. This would capture user-to-user platforms, whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material, alongside algorithms. The ban will therefore include platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. We do not intend for messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal to be included in the social media ban.
Children will be given back their childhoods thanks to government action to ban social media platforms from offering services to under-16s, with less time for scrolling and more time for play.
The plans will set a new normal for future generations, kickstarting a cultural shift and driving forward the government’s fight to give every child the best start in life.
The popular social media and messaging app would be banned for under-16s under Starmer’s plans.
But it says that the majority of time spent on Snapchat is in “private messaging between friends and family”.
”An outright ban that disconnects teens from those relationships doesn’t make them safer – it may simply push them to less safe platforms,” a spokesperson says.
It adds that it has long supported “thoughtful and proportionate regulation” and shares the government’s aim to protect young people from online harm – and that it is “vital” that the government now “carefully considers” how a ban would be applied.
Messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal would not be included in the social media ban.
Mixed Reactions Trail Social Media Ban for Teens in UK
It’s a mixed reaction at a high school in Wythenshawe.
I was with Year 8 and 9 pupils as they watched the announcement from Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Some were happy with a social media ban coming into force, others had their heads in their hands.
Sean, 13, doesn’t have social media and is feeling good about the ban.
”It’s time they did something about it. Many use [social media] for bad and good things, but at this point in time it’s a bad place.”
Riley, 13, uses mostly YouTube and WhatsApp and isn’t very happy. He feels that the government hasn’t looked at the bigger picture of people who would struggle with the ban.
As a reminder, WhatsApp is not included in the ban.
”There is a lot of people with neurodivergence,” says Riley. “We need it to recuperate when we are burned out.”
Isaac says that he’s: “Annoyed and disappointed in this decision, because they’re not trying to make it better or safer – instead they are gonna wipe it out completely.”
”I think there should be more restriction and parental guidance on the accounts, but not a ban.”
