The UK government
announced today that it will ban social media for all kids under the age of 16 in rules expected to take effect in spring 2027. The ban will apply to platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X.
“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,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in the announcement.
In addition to the ban on social media, Starmer’s government said it will impose “world-leading blocks on harmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s… Restrictions on these functionalities will also be on by default for 16- and 17-year-olds to prevent a cliff-edge at 16.” The livestreaming and stranger-contact rules would apply to a range of services, such as online gaming.
“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,” the announcement said. The planned social media ban will not apply to messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal.
Another planned change is that “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,” the UK government said.
Age checks
Platforms will be ordered to verify users’ ages. Communications regulator Ofcom will be tasked with determining what kinds of age-verification systems will be required to comply with the rules. The
ban decision was made after a consultation that drew responses from 116,000 people.
<small>Source: Ars Technica</small>
