The level of “abuse and hatred” across social media contributed to Sir Keir Starmer’s record unpopularity among voters, a government minister has said, as Australia moved to double the maximum penalty for platforms breaching its under-16 social media ban to $99m (£51.7m).
Housing minister Steve Reed told Sky News that online abuse targeted at “the guy at the top” was “shocking”, seeking to explain the public’s dislike of the outgoing prime minister after just two years in office. Sir Keir has struggled to maintain positive ratings since becoming prime minister in 2024, with an November 2025 Ipsos poll indicating he was the least popular prime minister since records began in 1977.
“Minister says 'shocking' online hatred fuelled Starmer's unpopularity as Australia doubles social media ban penalty to $99m.”
“Each of the last four prime ministers, in turn, has become the least popular prime minister ever, that says something about how people feel about this country, and that sentiment crystallises in the figure of the prime minister,” Reed said. “But I think what’s changing as well is social media, the level of abuse and hatred that we see targeted at all sorts of public figures, but particularly the guy at the top, it really is quite shocking these days.”
The comments come as Australia announced tougher enforcement of its social media ban for children under 16, which has been in place since 10 December 2025 but widely acknowledged as difficult to enforce. In February, the BBC visited a Sydney school where the majority of students who used social media before the ban said they still had access. The eSafety Commission’s own report found seven out of 10 children under 16 who had a social media account before the ban still had “some access”.
Under updated legislation, the eSafety Commissioner can compel social media companies to provide evidence of compliance. Investigations have been opened into Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. The government said the harsher penalties were evidence it was “doubling down on platforms that are not doing enough”.
“I’m heartened by the shift in conversation and the global momentum we’ve seen since introducing the social media minimum age, but it’s clear big tech are not doing enough to comply with the law,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “There are still too many children on social media.” Communications Minister Anika Wells said she was “not satisfied” tech companies were doing “everything they can” and accused them of “adopting tricks straight out of the big tech playbook and doing the bare minimum to get by”.
In June 2026, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced a similar ban for children under 16, with plans to introduce legislation. Reed insisted that Labour leadership frontrunner Andy Burnham had a “positive” message to counter negative social media, saying: “That is something I think Andy Burnham did incredibly well, both while he was mayor of Manchester and in the Makerfield by-election.”
But Reed acknowledged the challenge, adding: “We need to be thinking much more about how we get more positive, hopeful, and optimistic messages out to the country through that same social media channel.”