Millions of children in the UK will be forced off social media after the government announced it would ban under-16s from accessing a range of platforms from spring 2027. Apps including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, X and YouTube will become inaccessible for children, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday, declaring: “I am not prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children.”
The ban – which will also cover Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch if the UK follows Australia’s approach – triggered an immediate backlash from tech giants. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, warned that a ban risked “isolating teens from online communities and information, and driving them to unregulated alternatives”. YouTube called itself “a vital resource for young people” and said “blanket bans push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less safe services”. Snapchat said it disagreed with a full ban, while TikTok said it would “examine the details of the government’s measures”.
“UK under-16s face social media ban from 2027; PM Starmer says he will not compromise on children's safety.”
Within a day, a petition to stop the ban had passed 150,000 signatures, meaning it will be considered for a parliamentary debate. Its creator, Leo Rhodes, wrote: “For many young people social media is how they communicate with their friends… a lifeline. A community, a supportive network.” The Royal Society for Blind Children warned the ban “risks cutting off vital routes to connection for children who are already too often excluded”. Fact-checkers Full Fact called it “a misguided, retrograde step and a de facto surrender in the fight against harmful online misinformation”.
But the government’s consultation – which received 116,000 responses, including contributions from tens of thousands of parents – found nine in 10 parents backed a ban. Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told MPs: “We are giving children their childhood back.” Joe Ryrie, co-founder of the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign group, said: “Millions of children will now get a few more years to grow up before entering online environments that were never designed with their wellbeing in mind.”
Exemptions include WhatsApp, Signal, YouTube Kids and the gaming platform Roblox – though under-16s will be barred from features such as livestreaming and strangers contacting them. The government will also consider restrictions on “addictive” features like infinite scroll and curfews for 16- and 17-year-olds, and intimate AI chats will be banned for under-18s. Over-16s may need to verify their age, though the government said many adults would not require checks because their accounts are already old or linked to a credit card.
Enforcement remains a question. Australia’s ban – on which the UK plan is based – is widely flouted, with around 60% of teenagers continuing to use the platforms. Yet the New Statesman noted that 40% stopped, calling it a public health success comparable to the smoking ban in pubs. Kendall said the use of VPNs to skirt restrictions would be tackled next month after a pilot scheme.