UK to consult on whether to ban social media for under-16s

The UK government has launched a consultation on whether to ban under-16s from using social media and is also planning to toughen guidance on phone use in schools.

Pressure has been growing on the UK PM, Keir Starmer, to address the matter, including from 60 of his own MPs who have urged him to introduce a ban similar to the one that took effect in Australia last month.

Blocking children’s access to social media and restricting addictive features, such as “streaks” (which count your daily interactions with an app) and infinite scrolling (where the content never runs out), are measures being considered in the consultation.

The government said it will also check every school’s mobile phone policy during inspections and suggested that all schools will be phone-free, with teachers leading by example.

The consultation will also examine whether Australia's social media ban for under-16s, which came into force last month, has worked so far.

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In a press release announcing the consultation, the government confirmed that Ministers will visit Australia “to learn first-hand from their approach.”

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: “Through the Online Safety Act, this government has already taken clear, concrete steps to deliver a safer online world for our children and young people.

“Technology has huge potential to create jobs, transform public services, and improve lives. But we will only seize on that potential if people know they and their children are safe online,” she added.

The move was supported by the UK’s chief inspector of schools, Martyn Oliver, who added: “My message to headteachers is you now have all the backing, and the backing of my inspectors, to ban mobile phones in schools immediately.

“They chip away at children’s attention spans, distract from learning, and can be detrimental to children’s well-being."

Martyn Oliver, UK's chief inspector of schools

Some in the security community also welcomed the consultation. Check Point's Graeme Stewart, head of public sector, believes that there's more to the issue than screen time and thinks teen social media usage and their AI tools should be framed "as a safeguarding issue" .

“What’s changed in the last couple of years is the acceleration of AI-enabled harm. Generative tools have lowered the barrier for abuse at scale: convincing impersonation, deepfake imagery, ‘nudify’ style harassment, sextortion, and highly personalized phishing can now be created in minutes and distributed instantly. That means the threat isn’t just what children might stumble across – it’s how quickly their identity and reputation can be weaponised by strangers, criminals, or even classmates."

Graeme Stewart, Check Point

However, other security specialists worry that a ban will just push teens towards the darker side of the internet. Chris Hauk, a consumer privacy advocate at Pixel Privacy, added:

“Any ban on 16 and under using social media allows social media networks to skate by on the issue of making their sites and services safer for both children and adults. Any such ban will simply drive children to find riskier sites that don't obey the ban and allow them to access their content."

Chris Hauk, Pixel Privacy

As Cybernews reported last month, canny Australian teens are already finding ways around the controversial ban. They are increasingly flocking to alternative social media platforms like Coverstar, Yope, and Lemon8 as the government’s crackdown on teen use goes into full force.

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