'Give children their childhood back': MP support under 16s social media crackdown
Plans to ban under 16s from social media welcomed by MPs
MPs have welcomed government plans to ban under 16s from social media.
Millions of children in the UK look set to be denied access to a range of online platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, following Monday’s announcement by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The Government said the plans, which could be put in place before Christmas, would set “a new normal for future generations” by “kickstarting a cultural shift.”
Jade Botterill, MP for Ossett and Denby Dale, welcomed the announcement.
Earlier this year, Ms Botterill hosted an event with children and parents in her constituency to consider their views on the impact of social media on young people.
She said: “I’ve heard from parents, educators, and young people alike about the negative impacts social media are having on children’s lives.
“Regulation hasn’t kept up with these platforms, and the large social media companies have sat on their hands in the face of growing harm.
“I’m pleased that the government is taking the necessary and decisive action to hold social media companies to account, back parents and give children their childhood back.”
The government plans to use the same model for a social media ban as Australia but is yet to release the full list of platforms affected.
Tech companies including Meta, Snapchat and YouTube warned a blanket ban would move children into more unsafe online environments.
The government said over-16s may have to verify their ages to continue using social media platforms.
But it said many adults would not need to do checks because their accounts are already over 16 years old, had a credit card linked or their email address was already verified in other ways.
Messaging apps such as WhatsApp, and Signal will not be banned, and neither will online gaming platform Roblox.
But certain features will be restricted for under-16s, such as livestreaming and strangers being able to contact children.
Simon Lightwood, MP for Wakefield and Rothwell said: “As a dad, I know just how quickly the online world can shape our children’s lives, often in ways we don’t fully see or understand.
“Parents deserve to feel confident that their children are safe, and that the platforms they use are acting responsibly.
“These measures are about restoring that balance — putting families back in control, shielding children from harm, and making sure young people can grow up with the space to simply be children, free from the pressures and risks of the digital world.”
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, said it shared the Government’s “goal of keeping teens safe online”, pointing to its development of teenage accounts which “automatically limit who can contact them and the content they see”.
But a spokesperson for the company added: “Like others, we don’t think bans will achieve this goal.
“As we’ve seen in Australia, bans risk isolating teens from online communities and information, and driving them to unregulated alternatives that lack built-in protections and parental controls.”
YouTube similarly warned that the ban could push children toward “less safe services”.
The Prime Minister suggested in his Monday morning announcement there would be a carve-out for online learning tools such as YouTube Kids.
A spokesperson for TikTok said the company would “examine the details of the Government’s measures” and looked forward to “collaborating constructively with the Government on this important issue”.
The spokesperson said: “We share the Government’s goal of safe online experiences for teens, which is why teen accounts on TikTok have more than 50 pre-set safety and privacy settings, such as private accounts, and we continue to invest in the latest technologies to advance platform safety.”
The company said it welcomed that other platforms would be required to adopt measures it had already implemented, and warned children could be driven to less safe parts of the internet if protections did not apply across the board.