London.- The British Prime Minister, Labour’s Keir Starmer, announced this Monday that the United Kingdom will ban the use of social media for those under 16 and will take measures regarding communication in gaming ‘chats’ with strangers.
The Government’s measure, which aims to protect children from online dangers, follows the one taken in 2025 by Australia, a country that was the first in the world to introduce such a ban.
The networks expected to be affected are, in principle, the same ten as in Australia: TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, X, Threads, Snapchat, Twitch, and Kick.
In an announcement at the official residence of 10 Downing Street, Starmer said that the ban represents “an important moment” for the United Kingdom and assured that it is “the right decision” and that “the majority of parents will welcome it.”
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The head of the Government admitted that the decision has not been taken lightly but that the concern of parents regarding minors’ access to these networks has been taken into account.
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“I see it as a father. I know perfectly well the fears we all feel when thinking about this subject. The only thing I have always wanted for my children, hand on heart, is for them to be happy and safe, and I think that is what any parent wants, but now I ask myself: ‘Do we really believe that social media creates a happy environment for our children?’,” pointed out Starmer.
“Do we really believe that it is a place where they can feel safe? I think I don’t even need to answer those questions, right? All parents can see it with their own eyes. Social media is making children unhappy,” he added.
The prime minister admitted that the measure will not be easy as some tech companies want to make people believe that social media are “immutable, part of an almost natural order”.
But the United Kingdom must resist that argument because it has “the power of decision”, he pointed out.
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The measure, which must be approved by Parliament, where Labour has an absolute majority in the House of Commons (lower house), was decided a few months after a public consultation on the ban concluded, which received more than 100,000 responses, including from parents and young people.
According to that query, 90% of the parents who responded supported a minimum age of 16 to access social media, considering that the risks of social media outweigh the benefits.
