Britain’s teenagers are about to have their scrolling habits decided for them, whether they like it or not.
Keir Starmer is expected to announce on Monday that children under 16 will be banned from using major social media platforms, in what Downing Street is already billing as “bold action” on online safety. It’s one of the most significant interventions any UK government has attempted in the way young people use the internet.
The move puts Britain ahead of most of its European neighbours, and broadly mirrors legislation passed in Australia late last year, where a similar under-16 ban came into force despite fierce pushback from both tech companies and some civil liberties groups.
The detail, as ever, is where things get complicated. How exactly do you stop a determined 15-year-old from lying about their age online? Platforms have struggled with basic age verification for years, and critics point out that a legal ban without robust enforcement is little more than a press release.
“The government needs to tell us how this will actually work in practice,” said one digital rights campaigner briefed on the announcement. “Without that, it’s just warm words.”
Starmer’s team appears aware of that tension. Sources close to the Prime Minister suggest Monday’s announcement will include requirements for platforms to carry out far stricter age checks, with potential fines for companies that fail to comply. Ofcom, which already has sweeping powers under the Online Safety Act, is likely to be handed responsibility for policing the new rules.
Reaction from parents has been broadly positive, at least anecdotally. Several parent groups have been lobbying for tougher restrictions since the publication of Jonathan Haidt’s research linking heavy social media use among adolescents to rising rates of anxiety and depression.
Tech companies have so far said little publicly. Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, declined to comment ahead of the announcement. X, formerly Twitter, did not respond to a request for comment.
Whether this ends up as a genuine sea change in how British children experience the internet, or simply hands them a new workaround to Google, will depend almost entirely on the small print Starmer puts on the table on Monday.
