The UK government today banned social media platforms from offering services to under-16s.
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.
Messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal are not expected to be included in the social media ban.
“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 livestreaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s,” according to a UK government statement.
“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.”
Restrictions on these functionalities will also be on by default for under 16- and 17-year-olds to prevent a cliff-edge at 16. It adds.
The government will also be looking in more detail at overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under-18-year-olds and will set out more detail in July.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer comments: “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,” Starmer adds. “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.
“So-called AI ‘romantic companion’ chatbots – designed to simulate sexual relationships or roleplay with users – will have to enforce a minimum age of 18. Similar intimate functionalities will be restricted for under-18s on AI chatbots more widely.
“Taken together, these measures will mean a much more comprehensive model than just a blanket ban on social media — one that responds to how children experience harm online, rather than just where it happens.”
Technology secretary Liz Kendall says: “Today we take a bold and significant step, towards creating a safer, healthier life online, for our children and future generations.
“Tech companies have had countless opportunities to keep children safe, yet they have failed to act. That is why we are a taking power away from the tech giants and putting it back in parents’ hands,” she adds.
“My driving force has always been to give every child, from every background, the best possible start in life. That is what these regulations will deliver.”
The government plans to learn from Australia’s experience by introducing more highly effective age assurance (HEAA) measures to support compliance, making it far harder for children to bypass safeguards.
The announcement follows one of the biggest national conversations held by the government, with more than 116 000 responses submitted by parents, children and experts across the country. Kendall says the responses showed overwhelming public backing for tougher action, with nine in 10 parents saying they would support a social media ban for children under 16.
A majority of young people also backed action, with two-thirds agreeing that children younger than 16 should not be allowed to use at least some social media platforms.
On social media services, real-time content makes harmful material harder to moderate, and algorithmic feeds can intensify exposure to dangerous, distressing or overly engaging material.
Government has already taken powers through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act to act fast, using secondary legislation to introduce targeted protections without waiting to bring in a new Act. So the first set of regulations could be in effect in Spring 2027.