UK to Ban Social Media for Under-16s, Name 11 Platforms

Eleven social platforms will be illegal for UK children under 16 if Keir Starmer’s policy goes through: TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, X, Threads, Snapchat, Twitch, and Kick. That’s the same list Australia banned last year, and Starmer is expected to confirm the plan in a speech on Monday, per the Guardian and Financial Times.

Gaming apps like Roblox or Fortnite aren’t banned outright, but their younger users will lose the ability to chat with strangers. The ban also prohibits anyone under 18 from accessing romantic or sexual chatbots, and the government wants to prevent late-night scrolling through some regulatory mechanism. No specifics on how that last one gets enforced yet.

How the Ban Would Work

The UK already has an age verification law on the books, touted for child safety. Some of the new restrictions can be enforced using existing regulatory powers, but the Guardian reports new legislation may be required for the full ban. The government hasn’t said how platforms must verify age, and the Australian experience shows that’s the messy part - VPNs, fake IDs, and parental complicity all undermine the wall.

The Backlash and the Evidence

Supporters point to the mother of murdered teen Brianna Ghey, who blamed her daughter’s eating disorder and self-harm on harmful online content. Critics argue the ban violates privacy, isolates kids, and rests on unproven mental health benefits. Age verification laws in US states have already drawn fire for threatening anonymity and being trivially bypassable. The UK is betting that blunt prohibition beats the current free-for-all, but the technical and civil liberties hurdles are far from solved.

If Starmer delivers the speech as reported, the UK becomes the second Western country after Australia to attempt a hard age gate on social media. Whether the enforcement tooling can keep up with the workarounds will define whether this is a policy signal or an actual crackdown.

Source: UK may ban social media for children under 16
Domain: techcrunch.com