Overnight Social Media Ban for Older Teens
Sixteen and 17-year-olds in the UK will be subject to a voluntary overnight social media curfew and the shutdown of infinite scrolling features under new government plans announced by Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. The measures, part of broader restrictions on social media for children, will set default settings to prevent access between midnight and 6am. Features designed to keep users engaged, such as autoplay videos and algorithmic feeds, will be automatically turned off for this age group.
Critics Question Effectiveness
However, critics have questioned the effectiveness of the measures since teenagers aged 16 and 17 can switch off these default settings. Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott called the plans “another dog’s dinner from Labour,” stating: “Either they think 16 and 17-year-olds should be on social media or they don’t, but curfews they can simply switch off won’t achieve anything.” She also highlighted the contradiction of giving 16-year-olds the vote while imposing a social media curfew.
Government’s Broader Social Media Ban for Under-16s
The announcement follows the government’s unveiling last month of a social media ban for under-16s, expected to cover platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X, but not messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal, from next spring. The ban was announced days before the Makerfield by-election, with key details to be determined by the incoming prime minister Andy Burnham.
Kendall’s Statement on Protecting Teenagers
Ms Kendall said the latest measures will help ensure that under-18s accessing social media apps for the first time are not suddenly exposed to the most addictive features. In a statement, she said: “Our consultation provided a clear message from parents and teenagers alike – even as young people gain greater independence at 16, they should still be protected from the most addictive online features that can have a harmful impact on their wellbeing. These measures will be crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends.”
Pilot Results Show Improved Sleep and Concentration
According to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Dsit), families who took part in a government pilot involving more than 300 teenagers and parents across the UK reported that overnight curfews helped improve sleep and concentration.
New Safeguards for AI Use
Ms Kendall also wants to introduce new safeguards for children using artificial intelligence. The proposals include requiring under-18s to take regular breaks while using chatbots and cracking down on AI services that provide “dangerous, misleading or unverified mental health advice.” Ministers are considering banning chatbots that pose a serious threat to children, Dsit said. New guidance on safe AI use for children, parents, and guardians will be published, and media literacy teaching will be strengthened in schools from September.
Reactions from Online Safety Advocates
NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood said: “These proposed safety measures for 16 and 17-year-olds will go some way to improving the experiences of young people on social media – particularly having autoplay and functions that recommend content turned off by default and a curfew. But the proposals will not be enough on their own. Unless they’re followed up with further, stronger measures they will be a sticking plaster that fails to address the addictive design features which are driving high screentime and undermining children’s wellbeing.”
Colette Collins-Walsh, from the 5Rights Foundation, commented: “Social media bans and curfews only manage exposure to risk. They do nothing to incentivise change in a tech industry built on capturing children’s attention. The Government has promised children a good childhood in the digital age. That means requiring safe and age-appropriate design across all the digital products and services children use.”
Andy Lulham, chief operating officer at online safety provider Verifymy, noted that the default setting for the overnight limit for 16 and 17-year-olds “will ask the most of platforms technically, since they’ll now need to identify and apply different rules to three distinct groups – the under-16s being banned from next spring, older adolescents, and adults with full, open access. None of this will work without robust age assurance underpinning it. A default can only do its job if a platform knows, reliably, that a user is 16 or 17.”
