The UK government has announced plans for a voluntary social media curfew for 16- and 17-year-olds between midnight and 6am, as part of broader restrictions on social media for children. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall revealed the measures, which will include default settings that prevent access to infinite scrolling and breaks in AI chatbot use for older teenagers during those hours.
Details of the Curfew
The curfew, which is voluntary and can be switched off by users, aims to shut down features that keep users hooked, such as never-ending video reels and algorithmic feeds, by default. The changes are part of the government's wider restrictions on social media for children, following a social media ban for under-16s announced last month, which is expected to cover platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X from next spring. Messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal are exempt.
Criticism and Concerns
Critics have questioned the effectiveness of the measures, given that teenagers can opt out of the default settings. Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: “This is another dog’s dinner from Labour. 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. Giving 16-year-olds the vote while putting them under a social media curfew makes no sense.”
NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood commented: “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.”
Government Pilot and AI Safeguards
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Dsit) reported that families who took part in a government pilot involving more than 300 teenagers and parents across the UK found that overnight curfews helped improve sleep and concentration. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall stated: “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.”
Kendall also wants to introduce new safeguards for children using artificial intelligence, including 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, according to Dsit. New guidance for children, parents and guardians on safe AI use will be published, and media literacy teaching will be strengthened in schools from September.
Reactions from Advocacy Groups
Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza said: “We have to listen to young people. They don’t want a ban, but they do want to be protected from addictive, infinite scrolling; dangerous strangers trying to chat to them and explicit content they wished they hadn’t seen. I have called for action to protect children up to 18 and today’s announcement is a positive step.” She added: “I want to know more about how the policies, such as a curfew, will be delivered and will be watching closely to make sure they are effective – alongside pushing Ofcom to make full use of its powers to make the online world safer for children.”
Colette Collins-Walsh, from the 5Rights Foundation, said: “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, at home, school and everything in between.”
Technical Challenges
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.” He added: “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.”
