Ministers have embarked on a concerted lobbying operation to prevent a backlash from the Trump administration to the under-16s social media ban announced by Keir Starmer. The ban, which covers platforms including X, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok, makes the UK one of the first countries in the world to impose sweeping limits on children’s internet use, after Australia did the same earlier this year.
But British officials are acutely aware of the risk of retaliation from Donald Trump, whom Starmer will meet at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains this week. Trump has previously threatened the UK with “a big tariff” if the government does not drop its digital services tax. One person involved in the effort said ministers had taken a three-pronged approach to “engage the companies, pre-brief the administration and mythbust in the media”. They added: “This is about protecting children in Britain, not taking on US tech.”
“UK ministers lobby Trump to avert backlash over sweeping under-16s social media ban.”
Starmer, who spoke to Trump on Saturday, said: “I honestly think that across world leaders there has always been a recognition that leaders have to take steps to protect children.” He added: “In relation to President Trump, I spoke to him on Saturday, I’ll see him again this afternoon and, yes, of course, we’ll discuss this and many other issues, and lots of other leaders are very interested in it.”
By Monday evening, the US president had not commented on the plans. However, his ally Elon Musk, who owns X, posted: “This censorship law is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The real goal is to enable the UK government to track everyone.” Musk also branded the UK a “police state” as Big Tech rebels against the restrictions, with Meta and Google’s YouTube warning the measures could drive teenagers towards less safe corners of the internet.
The plans involve a wider set of restrictions than Australia’s. As well as setting age limits for many social media platforms, the government will prevent under-16s from livestreaming themselves, will ban adults from making unsolicited contact with children on gaming sites, and will ban children under 18 from engaging with “romantic” chatbots. Certain services have been specifically excluded, including YouTube Kids, Lego Play and Google Classroom. Ministers are working on further limits to be unveiled next month, including late-night social media curfews for 16- and 17-year-olds.