UK under-16s social media ban: which apps will be blocked and how will it work?

After PM announces ‘Australia plus’ plan, we look at how it is likely to be enforced – and potential problems ahead

Social media access in the UK is to be banned for under-16s as part of an online safety drive that includes a host of other restrictions.

Keir Starmer said the changes were a “line in the sand” for tech companies that had failed to keep children safe. Here are details of the ban and other online safety measures announced by the government on Monday.

Which social media apps will be banned for under-16s?

Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X and Facebook will all be blocked. The government is using the same framework as in Australia. It will ban under-16s’ access for “user-to-user platforms” that enable social interaction between users, allow them to post material and use algorithms to recommend content – jargon for social media. This means every major platform is captured. Currently, you have to be at least 13 in the UK to use major social media platforms.

The messaging platforms WhatsApp and Signal will not be included in the ban, according to the government. There will be a “narrowly defined” list of other exemptions, because the government does not want to hit music streaming, e-commerce platforms or educational services.

The government expects the ban, which follows a consultation that received more than 116,000 responses, to come into force by spring next year. It will publish the full response to the consultation next month.

What are the other restrictions?

The plan is being called an “Australia plus” ban because other measures are being introduced as well. Livestreaming and communication with strangers will be blocked for under-16s on a “wider range of online services” such as gaming sites like Roblox.

These restrictions would be on by default for 16- and 17-year-olds to prevent a “cliff edge” scenario when teenagers turned 16, the government said. Ministers are hoping that keeping restrictions in place for newcomers to social media will head off that threat. Limits on infinite scrolling and social media curfews are also under consideration for that age group.

So-called “romantic companion” chatbots, which simulate sexual relationships and roleplay with users, are to have a minimum age limit of 18. Other chatbots will also have an age limit of 18 on “intimate functionalities”.

There is more work to come from the government in July, when an update will address issues such as how to deal with virtual private networks, which allow users to circumvent geographical bans. Ministers will also set out further plans for 16- and 17-year-olds next month.

How will the ban be enforced?

The announcement suggests that the government could harden – or at least modify – the age-verification process already in place under the UK’s Online Safety Act, which is overseen by the UK’s communications watchdog, Ofcom. The regulator will publish an assessment of how to best implement age-gating for under-16s by October.

This OSA process prevents under-18s from accessing pornography and other harmful content. This “highly effective age assurance” permits platforms to determine users’ ages through a variety of different ways: by facial age estimation; collecting bank information; email-based age estimation; and in some cases using digital IDs. While reports from the past days have suggested the government might introduce “face scans” to verify users’ ages, this is already being done and is a part of existing, older legislation.

The government has said Ofcom will conduct a “rapid study” on how to do age verification under the new measures, in an effort to make sure teenagers in the UK are not able to circumvent the ban as easily as their Australian counterparts. Australia’s eSafety commissioner has said a “substantial proportion” of under-16s in the country have kept their accounts, managed to create new ones or bypassed age-gating systems.

The details of the age assurance plans will be thorny. The government wants it to be “far harder for children to bypass safeguards” with an “effective enforcement strategy”. Platforms and privacy advocates, meanwhile, are concerned about the technical and political implications of – potentially – collecting a lot more information on social media users.

What is the reaction to the ban?

The government said nine out of 10 parents who had responded to the consultation supported a ban. It added that two-thirds of young people agreed that children younger than 16 should be blocked from using at least some social media platforms.

However, the Molly Rose Foundation, an online safety charity established by the family of Molly Russell, a British teenager who took her own life after viewing harmful social media content, has said a ban will leave parents with a “false sense of safety”. It wants harmful algorithms that push content to children to be tackled.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, expressed disappointment at the ban, saying it could push children towards unsafe platforms – a common point made by ban opponents. A spokesperson said: “YouTube is a vital resource for young people, educators and parents. Blanket bans push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less safe services.”