UK to ban social media platforms serving under-16s

The ban, which the government said will impact Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, will be accompanied by a series of further measures that will impact a wider range of online services, including live streaming and gaming platforms.

Those additional measures include “world-leading blocks on harmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s” and the imposition of minimum age requirements of 18 for AI chatbots that either operate as a “romantic companion” or have “similar intimate functionalities”.

Further restrictions, such as overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under-18s, are also under consideration. The government has said it will set out more details on those measures next month.

“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,” the government said. “The changes will back parents grappling with the risks for children that come from the online world and help empower them by providing a clear decision on what is safe and age-appropriate for children.”

“This is a decisive first step by the government which marks a clear choice to put children’s wellbeing first and give them a healthy life online. We stand ready to take further measures in the future,” it added.

The measures have been dubbed ‘Australia Plus’ in a nod to the under-16s social media ban in force in Australia. The government has pledged to “learn the lessons from Australia’s experience”, amidst reports that the ban is being widely circumvented. The government said it will introduce “more highly effective age assurance (HEAA) measures to support compliance, making it far harder for children to bypass safeguards” and has tasked the UK’s online safety regulator Ofcom with undertaking a study to determine what effective age assurance for verifying whether someone is over 16 constitutes. Ofcom has said (2-page / 250KB PDF) it will “deliver an assessment that can be used to inform parliamentary debate by the end of October”.

Legislation to implement the ban will be introduced before Christmas, the government said, with a view to it coming into force next spring. UK technology secretary Liz Kendall said it is seeking rigorous enforcement of the ban “from the outset“.

In a letter to Ofcom, Kendall said: “Visible, credible enforcement will be essential to building confidence that these protections are real and effective in practice…”

In response, Ofcom said it is “ready to … ensure that these protections can be robust and effective alongside being implemented quickly”.

The Guardian reported on Sunday that a judicial review challenge to the plans is being considered by technology companies.

“The proposed UK ban on under-16s accessing social media platforms marks a ‘line in the sand’ moment for digital regulation,” said technology law expert Diane Mullenex of Pinsent Masons. “It signals that governments are prepared to intervene directly where platforms are perceived to have fallen short in safeguarding younger users. However, the real challenge will lie not in restricting access, but in reshaping platform design and enforcing meaningful accountability.”

Gemma Erskine, an expert in online safety regulation at Pinsent Masons, added: “Calling this ‘Australia Plus’ is politically neat, but the real question is whether the ‘plus’ makes the regime stronger or simply harder to enforce. Once ministers move beyond social media into livestreaming and chatbots more widely, the law becomes far more complex to police, especially where services are based overseas or can be accessed through VPNs.”

“Including AI companion sites is unsurprising, but extending restrictions to general-purpose chatbots opens a much bigger fight with major tech providers and raises difficult questions about where the line is drawn. And while secondary legislation means the ban could move quickly, potentially by spring 2027, speed will not remove the risk of challenge if the final regime is seen as too broad or impractical,” she added.