UK Looks Set to Follow Australia With Social Media Ban for Kids

The U.K. increasingly looks like it will follow Australia and ban children and teenagers from social media.

It comes as the upper chamber of the U.K. parliament, the House of Lords, voted to support a ban on social media use by under-16s, backing an amendment to the government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. The amendment requires social media platforms to introduce “highly effective” age-verification checks within 12 months of the law taking effect, preventing under-16s from creating accounts.

Peers approved the measure by 261 votes to 150. The government did not support the amendment and is expected to attempt to overturn it when the bill returns to the lower chamber, the House of Commons. However, the vote has increased political pressure on ministers, particularly as a growing number of politicians from across the divide have indicated support for a ban.

Prime Minister Kier Starmer previously opposed an outright ban, preferring to wait for the outcome of a government consultation on children’s social media use. That consultation is scheduled to run for three months and will consider potential restrictions, including age limits, overnight curfews, and measures to prevent compulsive use.

“We will take action to give children a healthier relationship with mobile phones and social media. It is important we get this right, which is why we have launched a consultation and will work with experts, parents and young people to ensure we take the best approach, based on evidence,” a government spokesperson says.

The Lords vote follows mounting campaigning from parents, charities, clinicians, and public figures, as well as recent policy developments in Australia, where a ban on under-16s using major social media platforms came into force in December.

“Across our constituencies, we hear the same message: children are anxious, unhappy, and unable to focus on learning. They are not building the social skills needed to thrive, nor having the experiences that will prepare them for adulthood,” a signed letter by more than 60 of Starmer’s Labour MPs says.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has urged the prime minister to “just get on” with a ban, saying delay was harming children’s mental health. Writing in the Guardian, she argues that existing protections for children in other areas were not being applied to social media.

“We will not be bought off with vague promises of a ‘national conversation’ about whether we should get children off these adult platforms,” she says. “The prime minister must set out how he will act and by when.”

In the U.S., a similar ban seems unlikely, despite certain states and Senate committees trying to get legislation passed. However, a growing number of nonpartisans are now determined to protect children from the ills of social media. A number of states already have enacted cellphone bans and First Amendment discussions may eventually be cast aside.

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