UK Plans to Ban Social Media for Under-16s

The UK government has announced plans to ban social media for children under the age of 16. The announcement, published on the government’s official website, outlined what it described as a broader push to strengthen online protections for children.

The policy comes through the UK Government and forms part of a wider approach to online safety regulation. Earlier rules already required platforms to take stronger action against harmful content and improve protections for children online.

It focuses on limiting access to platforms where users can post content, interact with others, and consume algorithm-driven feeds. Prime Minister Keir Starmer framed the move around child protection and access to online spaces. In the government statement, he said:

“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.”

What the Ban Would Cover

The restrictions would apply to user-to-user platforms whose purpose is social interaction, a definition the government says captures Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X. Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal would be excluded, along with educational tools, e-commerce sites, and music streaming.

Beyond the core ban, the government plans to block functions it considers higher risk, including livestreaming by under-16s and contact from unknown users, across a wider set of services that includes gaming sites. For 16- and 17-year-olds, those function-level limits would be on by default to avoid an abrupt cut-off at 16.

The government said AI romantic companion chatbots, which it describes as tools designed to simulate sexual relationships or roleplay, would have to enforce a minimum age of 18.

How the UK Plans to Enforce It

Enforcement is the open question, and the government is leaning on age-assurance technology to answer it. Ofcom will run a study on what counts as effective age verification for confirming a user is over 16, and the Technology Secretary has asked the regulator for an urgent review of its enforcement powers.

The government said it is drawing on Australia's experience to introduce stronger age-assurance measures that it argues will make safeguards harder for children to bypass. In December last year, Australia became the first country to enforce an under-16 social media ban. Britain would be the largest market yet to adopt that approach, and the government says its package goes further by pairing the ban with the function-level restrictions and the age floor on AI companions.

The UK government plans to bring the legislation to Parliament before Christmas through secondary powers under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act, with the first rules expected to take effect in spring 2027.

What It Means for Marketers

For platforms and advertisers, the plan signals that the under-16 audience in another large market is moving out of reach. The government has framed the decision as siding with parents over technology companies, and said 9 in 10 parents who responded to its consultation supported a ban, drawn from more than 116,000 responses.

Brands that rely on teenage reach across the named platforms would need to plan around a UK audience that, like Australia's, is set to lose access. The final list of platforms and the approved age-check methods are due when the government publishes its full consultation response in July.