UK Government to hold consultation on under-16s social media ban

UK Government ministers are consulting on implementing an Australian-style social media ban for under-16s in the UK.

The consultation will look at options including raising the digital age of consent and restricting potentially addictive app design features such as “streaks” and “infinite scrolling”.

There have been growing calls for the Prime Minister to raise the minimum age for social media platforms, and No 10 has signalled it is open to the idea.

Later this week, the Lords will vote on an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which would require social media platforms to stop children under 16 from using their platforms within a year of the Bill passing.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said it will also be taking immediate action on children’s social media use, including directing Ofsted to examine schools’ mobile phone policies and how effectively they are implemented during inspections.

The Government will also produce screen time guidance for parents of children aged five to 16. Guidance for parents of under-fives will be published in April, it said.

Ministers will visit Australia as part of its consultation, where a social media ban for under-16s came into force in December.

The Government will seek views from parents and young people and the Government will respond in the summer, DSIT said.

But Lord Nash, former schools minister, said the consultation represented only more delay.

“This announcement offers nothing for the hundreds of thousands of parents, teachers, medical professionals, senior police officers, national security experts and parliamentarians of all parties who have been calling for a raising of the age limit for social media,” the Conservative peer, who is tabling the Lords amendment, said.

“The Prime Minister must be in no doubt about the strength of feeling on this. The longer we delay, the more children we fail. I continue to urge all peers to back my amendment on Wednesday which would begin to end the catastrophic harm being done to a generation.”

Lord Nash’s amendment has already secured the support of the National Education Union (NEU) and 61 Labour MPs, who have written to the Prime Minister calling for “urgent action”.

Ban

Kemi Badenoch has already said the Conservative Party would introduce a ban for under-16s if it was in power.

Esther Ghey, whose 16-year-old daughter Brianna was murdered by two other teenagers in 2023, said on Monday that a ban would be “a vital step in protecting children online”.

In a letter to party leaders Sir Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Ed Davey, Ms Ghey said her daughter had had a “social media addiction” and “desperately wanted to be TikTok famous”, putting her “in constant fear about who Brianna might be speaking to online”.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: “Technology has huge potential to create jobs, transform public services, and improve lives. But we will only seize on that potential if people know they and their children are safe online.

“We are determined to ensure technology enriches children’s lives, not harms them – and to give every child the childhood they deserve.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “We have been clear that mobile phones have no place in our schools but now we’re going further through tougher guidance and stronger enforcement. Mobile phones have no place in schools. No ifs, no buts.”

'Dither'

Tory leader Mrs Badenoch said the consultation was “more dither and delay” from Labour.

“The Prime Minister is trying to copy an announcement that the Conservatives made a week ago, and still not getting it right,” she said.

“The harm social media is doing to children is undeniable, and the Conservatives would get children off these adult platforms altogether.

“By contrast, this is yet more dither and delay from Starmer and a Labour Party that have entirely run out of ideas.”

Labour MP for Lowestoft Jess Asato said the consultation was a “good first step”, adding: “Parents and carers across the country are calling for bold action now and it’s crucial the consultation does not simply kick this issue into the long grass.”

Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said there was “no time to waste in protecting our children from social media giants” and “this consultation risks kicking the can down the road yet again”.

She said the party was calling for film-style age ratings to protect children from “toxic algorithms and harmful content while giving them some of the benefits of being online”.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union the NAHT, said: “We welcome the news that the Government will take its time to properly consider a ban on social media for under-16s.

“It’s important that we learn from other countries and consider the unintended consequences as well as the advantages of such an approach.

“The vast majority of schools already have restrictions on the use of mobile phones on school sites.

“The Government’s suggestion that Ofsted should be ‘policing’ school policies is deeply unhelpful and misguided.

“School leaders need support from Government, not the threat of heavy-handed inspection.”

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Ofsted’s involvement in policing these bans is all well and good but it would be more helpful for the Government to provide schools with resources to support the safe and secure storage of mobile phones.

“Most schools operate a policy in which students are asked to keep their phones in bags and out of sight – but this, of course, means that teachers constantly have to be alert to pupils breaking the rules.

“There are products on the market which can be used to safely store mobile phones so that they cannot be used.

“However, this costs money and many schools are, frankly, completely cash-strapped.”

'False choice'

Ian Russell, who set up the Molly Rose Foundation after his 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life, having viewed harmful content on social media, said: “In the last few days, parents have been presented with a false choice between a toxic status quo and a social media ban that risks unintended consequences and a false sense of security for parents.

“The Prime Minister must now commit to strengthening the Online Safety Act to address the harmful and addictive design choices that are blighting a generation of children, and to make clear in law that protecting digital wellbeing is now the price of admission to the UK market.”

Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: “Making the internet safer for children must be the Government’s priority – so we welcome this consultation into possible measures and the impact they will have.

“We also welcome the announcement that young people will be part of the consultation as it’s vital their voices are heard on an issue that affects them so profoundly.”