UK to force social media limits on under-16s, regardless of consultation results

The UK government admits that social media restrictions on young Brits will become mandatory even if it stops short of an outright ban, with Education Minister Olivia Bailey telling parliament on Monday that "the status quo cannot continue."

The Government's admission comes after pressure from Parliament to introduce an Australia-style ban on social media access for under-16s.

Peers in the House of Lords voted in support of a social media ban for a fourth time on Monday after three previous attempts were defeated by MPs in the House of Commons.

The Lords are repeatedly trying to force a strict social media ban for under-16s, while the government wants slower, more flexible measures such as curfews, scrolling limits, or bans on specific websites.

Now, following this fourth attempt, the government has made some concessions, indicating that some form of ban or strict age restriction is now expected to pass into law, whatever the consultation’s conclusion.

Bailey told the Commons: "Let us be clear: the status quo cannot continue. We are consulting on the mechanism, and that is the right thing to do.”

"But we are clear that under any outcome, we will impose some form of age or functionality restrictions for children under 16. I can also confirm that consideration of restrictions such as curfews will be in addition to, not instead of, this,” Bailey added.

Consultation still ongoing

A national consultation about children’s use of social media, Growing up in the online world, was launched in March this year and is due to conclude on May 26th.

The consultation – which is in the process of gathering views from tech companies, charities, parents, and teens – does not directly ask the question “ban or no ban” but was designed to explore a range of possible restrictions on young people’s internet use.

However, Bailey has now said in parliament that some form of restriction is guaranteed anyway and that the consultation is about how, not whether, to act.

The push for a ban from campaigners, MPs, and peers comes despite privacy and censorship fears.

The consultation notes that for maximum safety, all 55 million social media users in the UK might have to undergo age verification to verify they are not children.

In January, privacy advocate Silkie Carlo, head of UK organization Big Brother Watch, warned that this may have unintended consequences.

“The only way to ban children from social media is through mandatory online ID checks for us all, adults and children alike,” she said.

“All of the online age verification options are highly invasive, and the biometric and behavioral profiling options are highly inaccurate, meaning IDs will be required in many millions of cases regardless. Parliament should reject calls for a social media ban and focus on supporting parents and schools to help children use the internet in a positive and healthy way.”

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