PRIME Minister Keir Starmer announced a ban under-16s from major social media platforms including TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram reports the BBC.
Children will also stop being able to livestream on “safer” sites and stop being able to talk to strangers on gaming apps, the prime minister announced.
PM Keir Starmer said: “Social media is making children unhappy, making it easier for bullies to abuse children, and is “designed to be addictive”. A ban would give children more time, security, and more freedom to grow up – as well as more opportunities, he adds.
“That is all any parent wants. They want to know that Britain will be better for their children, that they will get a fair chance,” the PM says in a speech in Downing Street.
Starmer adds that the government is “not prepared to compromise” on the safety and happiness of children – and that includes in the regulation and enforcement of this ban. He says the government has listened to and learned from countries like Australia, where a similar ban has already been introduced.
The government is also going further with “world-leading action” on gaming services and live streaming platforms, he says.
If passed in parliament, the ban will come into force by spring 2027, he adds.
Ministers are considering whether to impose social media curfews for children, but further details will not be unveiled until next month.
Australia introduced the world’s first outright ban on social media for under-16s in December 2025 and Whitehall sources are describing the UK’s scheme, to be unveiled by Starmer on Monday morning, as “Australia-plus”.
“This is a choice about whose side we’re on: families across the country, or a status quo that isn’t working,” he has said.
He added he would “call time on a system that’s failing our kids”.
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