The UK seems to be moving towards banning teens under the age of 16 from using social media, following Australia’s landmark lead. This follows as the UK government faces mounting pressures to adopt stricter policies for young people on social media.
Similar to Australia’s ban, social media platforms would be required to verify user’s ages, deactivate underage accounts and prevent news ones from forming.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has traditionally had a more softened stance on a full under-16s social media ban. His abrupt change of heart follows an announcement from Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch promising to enforce an under-16s ban if elected.
A House of Lords amendment to the child welfare bill would place responsibility on major social media platforms to enforce age restrictions. Enforcement would shift responsibility from parents to social media companies, who could consequently face substantial fines for non-compliance. This would mirror Australia’s ban, where more than 4.7 million accounts have been deactivated from major platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
Prime Minister Starmer scored a political win over the social media platform X and its controversial owner, Elon Musk, which incorporated AI chatbots creating sexualised images of women and minors. UK regulators launched an investigation into the blatant breaches of online safety rules, whilst the government simultaneously hinted at plans to criminalise the creation of any kind of sexual content involving children created by AI chatbots, as well as the platform itself if it failed to comply. As a result, X restricted the chatbot’s abilities to avoid further backlash on a global stage.
This move is recognised as a comprehensive push to strengthen digital protections of child users in the UK. Any future amendments are likely to pass initial scrutiny, putting significant pressure on social media platforms globally.
