Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a press convention to announce authorities motion to guard youngsters on-line, at Downing Road in central London, Monday, June 15, 2026.
Carlos Jasso/POOL AFP by way of AP
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Carlos Jasso/POOL AFP by way of AP
LONDON — Britain will ban youngsters below 16 from utilizing a variety of social media apps together with Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube to guard younger folks from dangerous content material and extreme display screen time, Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned Monday,
Starmer instructed a information convention that he’ll battle again if know-how firms resist the transfer, and acknowledged some teenagers would attempt to discover their method round a ban. However he mentioned he’s “not prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children.”
“Every parent can see it with their own eyes. Social media is making children unhappy,” mentioned Starmer, who has two teenage youngsters. “I’ve heard first hand from families crying out for change and we will do right by them.”
The transfer, anticipated to take impact early subsequent 12 months, makes the U.Okay. a part of a rising world motion to tighten on-line security for youngsters. Australia, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia have launched laws or introduced age-based restrictions or necessities for youngsters’s entry to social media. France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand and South Korea are amongst others learning or growing related approaches.
The U.Okay. plans to comply with the identical mannequin for a social media ban as Australia, which final 12 months turned the primary nation to bar under-16s from holding social media accounts. Platforms that fail to take cheap steps to exclude youngsters youthful than 16 may very well be punished with multimillion-dollar fines.
The U.Okay. mentioned its ban will apply to platforms together with Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Fb and X, however not YouTube Children or messaging providers like WhatsApp and Sign. Starmer careworn that enforcement motion will goal tech firms, not youngsters.
The prime minister additionally mentioned he’ll go additional than Australia’s measures.
He mentioned the federal government will act to stop strangers from contacting youngsters on gaming and livestreaming platforms. Authorities are additionally contemplating further measures together with in a single day curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for these below 18. Extra particulars are anticipated subsequent month.
Starmer’s announcement met with blended reactions
The choice follows a public remark interval during which the federal government bought 116,000 responses from dad and mom, the tech business and youngsters. The variety of responses was second solely to at least one searching for enter about same-sex marriage in 2012.
The overwhelming majority of respondents — greater than 90% — needed an under-16 ban, the federal government mentioned.
Esther Ghey, whose 16-year-old daughter Brianna was killed in 2023 by two youngsters who had accessed dangerous content material on-line, mentioned the ban would “potentially save so many children’s lives,” however needed to be accompanied by different measures.
NSPCC, a number one youngsters’s charity, praised the federal government’s ambition however urged authorities to make sure platforms roll out “robust age checks” and successfully implement the coverage.
Others are extra skeptical.
Critics together with the Open Rights Group have expressed considerations about age verification firms and the way customers’ non-public knowledge is protected.
Reacting on Monday, a spokesperson for YouTube warned {that a} blanket social media restriction might “push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less-safe services.”
Starmer acknowledged the challenges, however mentioned success for the ban would imply “a massive drop off of children on social media” and “a cultural change, a sense that actually you can grow up differently.”
Starmer, elected slightly below two years in the past, is below strain to step down from members of his personal social gathering over what they see as poor management and will face a management problem within the coming days or even weeks. He’s searching for to herald consequential measures that may function a legacy.
The U.S. has opposed the transfer
The ban might additional inflame tensions with the U.S., which has warned that laws needs to be slender and never violate free speech protections, in keeping with an announcement from the U.S. Embassy in London. It mentioned it was additionally involved that laws would place higher burdens on American know-how firms.
Starmer mentioned he anticipated to debate the problem with U.S. President Donald Trump and different world leaders at a Group of Seven summit in France that begins Monday.
“I honestly think that across world leaders, there has always been a recognition that leaders have to take steps to protect children,” he mentioned. “I don’t think that’s controversial. There will always be arguments as to exactly what the limits of that are and what rules should be in place, but I don’t see that as a problem.”
Jon Crowcroft, a communications techniques professor on the College of Cambridge, mentioned folks supporting social bans are well-meaning however in all probability misguided, and adjustments might stop youngsters from accessing websites they want.
“There is a real risk this will drive some users to worse sites and policing devices is close to impossible technically,” Crowcroft mentioned. “Policing platforms is far easier, if only regulators would bother.”
