The UK government is set to announce a ban on under-16s accessing 'high-risk' social media apps, with safer platforms also facing restrictions. The measures, to be outlined by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, include prohibiting under-16s from using disappearing messages, chatting with adult strangers, and livestreaming. Under-18s will also be banned from using romantic or sexual AI chatbots.
The decision follows a consultation that closed on 26 May, which received over 116,000 responses, with nine out of 10 parents supporting an under-16 ban. A Downing Street source said the prime minister had been clear that the government's action needed to be a 'gamechanger' and nothing was off the table. 'It's not going to be an incremental change, this is not going to be half measures,' the source added.
However, sources warned the government faces the threat of judicial review over its decision to ban some platforms and not others. Specific platforms subject to the under-16 ban will be announced at a later date. In Australia, where a similar ban is in place, it applies to any service allowing social interaction between two or more users and posting material, covering apps like TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, X, Instagram, and Facebook.
Mark Jones, a partner at law firm Payne Hicks Beach, said the speed of the decision after consultation was not sufficient grounds for a successful legal challenge. 'It is a high legal threshold, that the decision was irrational, procedurally unfair or illegal,' he noted. The ban also raises questions about age verification, with the Online Safety Act currently requiring platforms offering pornography or self-harm content to verify users are over 18.
