How the UK social media ban for under-16s will work - and the unanswered questions

How the UK social media ban for under-16s will work - and the unanswered questions Keir Starmer unveiled plans to block access for under-16s to platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, building on a ban imposed in Australia in December Children will be banned from using social media from early next year in a landmark move to keep kids safe online. Keir Starmer unveiled plans to block access for under-16s to popular platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, building on a ban imposed in Australia in December. The move has been hailed by some families who have lost children to suicide or due to issues such as online challenges, but others oppose the move. The restrictions are expected to pass through Parliament by Christmas and in place by the Spring. Speaking at a No10 press conference, the Prime Minister said: “I’m not prepared to compromise on the safety of our children. That is why this ban must happen, that is why it will happen.” Mr Starmer, who has a teenage son and daughter, said: “This is not something I do lightly, and I will not present it as cost-free, as if social media has brought no benefits to young people, because clearly that is wrong. But government is always about choices, and it’s clear to me that a full ban is the right choice.” Here's what you need to know. Why is social media being banned for under-16s? The Government is acting after concerns about what children are seeing online and pleas from parents for support. Nine out of 10 (90%) parents who responded to an official consultation said they wanted a ban, while two thirds (62%) of children backed age restrictions on at least some social media. However, 72% also said they were worried about feeling left out if restrictions came in. There is concern that a generation of children have been exposed to harmful content with almost no protection - ranging from extreme pornography and violent imagery to content promoting eating disorders or self harm. Online bullying and the risk of grooming from communication with strangers are also key fears. The amount of time teenagers spend on social media has also triggered alarm. Which platforms are impacted? Officials are following the model used in Australia, which included an outright ban on platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X, Reddit and Threads. Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal are not expected to be included in the UK's ban, along with online shopping and music streaming sites. Educational tools like YouTube Kids, Google Classroom and Lego Play will continue be allowed as they are not considered to have problematic features. However, other platforms could be affected if they contain high-risk features like live-streaming and communications with strangers. This could mean under-16s can use gaming platforms like Fortnite and Roblox, but will not be allowed to interact with strangers or livestream themselves. AI chatbots which simulate sexual or romantic relationships will only be available to people over 18. And chatbots with wider functions will have to restrict "intimate functionalities" for under-18s, the government said. How will it be enforced? Platforms will be required by law to harden age checks for users. Most social media platforms already say children need to be 13 or over to use them, but some rely on a simple self-declaration. The Government wants to use "highly effective age assurance" measures to verify the age of users. This could include facial scans, submitting ID or banking checks for over 18s. Some online pornography sites already use this kind of technology. However, work is being done by the online safety regulator Ofcom to determine how best to identify kids under 16, who may not have these documents. Implementing a ban will require legislation. Powers have been taken under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act allow ministers to use secondary legislation - which is much quicker - to bring in new online safety measures. Ofcom will enforce the ban, with action targeted at the tech giants for failing to comply with the law. Parents and children will not be punished for breaches. When the ban comes in, platforms will have to switch off accounts belonging to children under 16 or pause them until they are old enough to use them. What is happening with 16 and 17-year-olds? Ministers want to prevent older teenagers facing a "cliff edge" when they turn 16. Under the plans, high-risk functionalities like live-streaming and being able to chat to strangers will be switched off as standard for 16 and 17-year-olds. However, they will be able to switch these on if they want to. Ministers are also going beyond the blanket ban to look at other areas like doom-scrolling and overnight curfews for older teenagers. The same would default setting would apply if the Government decides to press ahead with imposing these restrictions. Will there be help for kids to adapt? The ban will be an enormous change for teenagers to adjust to. There are plans for children to learn more about the online world at school, including staying safe, the impact of social media and AI, and critical thinking about what they see online. This may place a greater The Government also launched a new drive at the weekend for greater access to sport, creative activities, nature and the arts to give teenagers more to do. It comes after a hollowing out of provision for after-school activities and youth clubs. What are the unanswered questions? A number of areas are still being looked at, including use of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), which scramble data to make the user almost invisible. There are questions about whether tech-savvy teens will use these secure connections to get around age verification checks. But the effectiveness of VPNs can be limited by the level of security imposed by social media companies. Ministers are still deciding about whether to order restrictions on infinite scrolling and whether to impose curfews on apps. A pilot is looking at shutting down access between 9pm and 7am to stop kids staying up all night on their phones. The Government has said it will provide more detail in July on these issues. Full details have not been set out of age verification plans - and there are questions about how robust the checks could be. A study by Internet Matters recently found young people are using fake birthdays, shared accounts, altered photos and even drawing on false moustaches to dodge the limits. Polling by the Molly Rose Foundation recently found three in five Australian 12-15 year-olds with accounts on restricted platforms before the ban came into force still have access to one or more accounts. What are the issues? Some campaigners think the ban lets tech giants off the hook and fails to fix the real problems. The Molly Rose Foundation has said a ban could leave parents with a “false sense of safety”, and kids could be pushed towards darker corners of the internet. The charity, set up by prominent campaigner Ian Russell whose daughter Molly took her own life after being exposed to harmful content, wants the Government to focus on tackling algorithms that push content to children. There are also broader questions about data privacy for adults - and whether people will be forced to hand over more information to tech giants to use their platforms. Tech giants have hit back, warning the ban could push kids towards less safe services. A spokesperson for YouTube said “YouTube is a vital resource for young people, educators and parents. Blanket bans push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less safe services.” Meanwhile Meta, which owns Facebook, said: "As we’ve seen in Australia, bans risk isolating teens from online communities and information, and driving them to unregulated alternatives that lack built-in protections and parental controls. To be both effective and easy for parents, any restrictions must be underpinned by an age verification system on devices so people aren’t asked to hand over ID to dozens of individual services to prove their age."