{"id":1031926,"date":"2026-06-17T07:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1031926\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T07:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:59:18","slug":"uk-to-ban-social-media-for-under-16s-a-line-in-the-sand-catherine-ocallaghan-will-manley-laura-houston-bryony-bacon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1031926\/","title":{"rendered":"UK to ban social media for under-16s: A \u201cline in the sand\u201d, Catherine O’Callaghan, Will Manley, Laura Houston, Bryony Bacon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK Government has announced<\/a> plans to ban social media platforms from offering services to children under 16. The announcement is one of the most significant proposed interventions in online platform regulation since the Online Safety Act 2023 (the \u201cOSA<\/strong>\u201d).<\/p>\n

Scope and structure of the proposed ban<\/strong><\/p>\n

The UK plans to build on the approach taken by Australia, with commentators describing the UK model as \u201cAustralia plus\u201d. The ban will capture user-to-user platforms whose primary purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material, alongside algorithms. Although the Government has stated that it is considering how to determine exactly which platforms will fall under the restrictions, it has confirmed that Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X will be caught. As the plan is not to ban educational services, e-commerce platforms or music streaming, there will be a narrowly defined list of exemptions to the definitions which will be kept under review. Importantly, the Government has also clarified that messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal are not intended to be captured.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beyond the headline social media ban, the Government also plans wider restrictions on specific harmful functionalities for under-16s, including livestreaming and features that allow strangers to communicate with under-16s. These restrictions will apply to a wider range of services than those caught by the blanket ban, including gaming sites. For 16- and 17-year-olds, the same restrictions will be applied on a default-on basis, designed to mitigate the risk of 16 year olds facing a digital cliff-edge (caused by age restrictions resulting in children who have had no engagement with social media suddenly using platforms with full capabilities when they turn 16, without having developed any digital literacy).<\/p>\n

Additional proposals include overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under-18s, with further detail expected in July 2026, when the Government will publish its full response to its consultation on \u201cGrowing up in the online world<\/a>\u201d. AI \u201cromantic companion\u201d chatbots designed to simulate sexual relationships or roleplay will be subject to a minimum user age of 18, and similar intimate functionalities on AI chatbots more broadly will be restricted for under-18s.<\/p>\n

Age assurance and enforcement<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Government has acknowledged from the outset that effective age assurance is critical to the credibility of the ban. Ministers have stated that they will learn lessons from Australia\u2019s experience by introducing \u201cmore highly effective age assurance measures\u201d to support compliance and make it harder for children to bypass safeguards.<\/p>\n

With Ofcom set to lead on supporting the implementation and enforcement of the ban, the Secretary of State has written to Ofcom\u2019s new Chair requesting an urgent review of the regulator\u2019s enforcement capabilities, with Ofcom to set out a\u00a0 clear enforcement strategy as soon as possible. \u00a0Ofcom Chief Executive Dame Melanie Dawes, in a\u00a0<\/a>letter<\/a> also published on 15 June 2026, has confirmed the regulator\u2019s readiness to work closely with DSIT to support with delivering the new restrictions. The letter states that Ofcom has already commenced work on options for effective age assurance at 16 and will deliver an assessment that can inform parliamentary debate by the end of October 2026, as also requested by the Secretary of State. This assessment is expected to address the technological feasibility of various age assurance mechanisms, their proportionality, and their compatibility with privacy requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Broader context<\/strong><\/p>\n

The proposed ban does not operate in a vacuum. The OSA already imposes duties on platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and to conduct children\u2019s risk assessments, with hefty potential fines for non-compliance. However, in recent months there has been increasingly intense scrutiny as to whether these existing measures do enough to protect children online (see our recent blog<\/a>), and calls for a ban on social media access by minors have been mounting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

That said, as explored in more detail in our briefing<\/a> from last month, significant challenges to whether a ban is the right approach have also been raised, including by several prominent child safety organisations and experts. Whilst the Government\u2019s proposals contain measures expressly aimed at mitigating some of these \u2013 they do not answer some key concerns, including:<\/p>\n