UK to Ban Social Media for Under-16s

Starmer, who once opposed such a move, said he had been persuaded by evidence gathered during a public consultation that drew roughly 116,000 responses, more than 90% of which supported a ban. "Social media is making children unhappy," he told reporters, pointing to harms to mental health and the ease with which bullies can harass young users. Britain follows Australia, which last year became the first country to bar under-16s from holding accounts, while Canada, Brazil, France and others weigh similar rules. Technology companies pushed back: a YouTube spokesperson warned that blanket bans risk driving children toward "anonymous, less-safe services", and Meta echoed concerns about isolating teenagers. Elon Musk, who owns X, branded the plan censorship.

Significant questions remain about enforcement. The government has promised "highly effective age assurance", which could involve facial age estimation, photo identification or digital identity services, but the regulator Ofcom has cautioned that verifying an age of 16 is harder than 18 and will publish detailed proposals in the autumn. Officials also concede that tech-savvy teenagers may use virtual private networks (VPNs) to disguise their location, prompting talk of further restrictions in July. Internationally, the announcement is being watched closely; Starmer said he expected to discuss it with US President Donald Trump and other leaders at the G7 summit in France, amid concerns from Washington about burdens on American technology firms.