Starmer announces full social media ban for under-16s

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that under-16s will be banned from a range of social media in a “big moment for our country”.

The prime minister promised “bold action” in response to calls for change from parents, after the vast majority responding to the government consultation backed a minimum age of 16 before children can access social media platforms.

“This is not something I do lightly, and I will not present it as cost-free, as if social media has brought no benefits to young people, as clearly that is wrong,” Starmer said at a Downing Street press conference on Monday.

“But it is clear to me that a full ban is the right choice.

“Do we truly believe that social media creates a happy environment for our children? Do we truly believe its a place they can feel safe?”

Describing how social media is “designed to be addictive”, Starmer said there was also an “opportunity cost” for young people using it.

“It stops children doing their homework, reading, playing with their friends outside, going to bed at a decent hour,” the PM said.

“That may not sound like much, but these are the activities that help a child develop into an adult.”

Starmer said the enforcement of the ban would sit with social media providers rather than users, after he was asked if children found on such sites would be fined.

Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, said that she and her party “welcome this latest Labour U-turn” and thanked shadow education secretary Laura Trott for “relentlessly fighting for this”.

In a post on social media, Badenoch claimed the ban was “fantastic news” and hailed it as “an important step in helping parents protect childhood for children”.

The Tories have long called for a full ban for under-16s.

The government hopes to pass the regulation before Christmas, bringing the ban into force “probably about spring time” next year, he said.

The PM also declared that he was still in favour of tech and AI, but said he was never going to accept that “we have to leave our children exposed”.

Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly Russell took her own life after watching harmful content online, has long been against an outright ban, saying that the onus should be on the platforms instead.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain on Monday, Russell said this announcement was a “rush job” and asked the government to tackle the platforms where the problem exists.

Referring to the results of the social media ban in Australia, Russell said that “over 60% of 13-15 year olds who shouldn’t be online because of the ban there are still online” calling it “ineffective”.

He predicted that this ban “won’t take long to start unravelling” and accused Starmer of “cherry picking the bits of information” he used to make this decision.

The government conducted a public consultation on the issue, which closed on May 26, and received about 116,000 responses, making it the second-largest in history.

Over 83% of parents who responded said social media risks outweigh the benefits for children, with 91% backing a minimum age of 16 before platforms can offer their services to children.

Almost two-thirds (62%) of children who responded said restricting the high-risk features would make them safer online. But 72% also said they were worried about feeling left out if restrictions came in.

It comes after Starmer last week issued a three-month ultimatum to Apple and Google to make it technologically impossible for children to take, share or view nude images on their smartphones.

The latest move risks prompting a backlash from Donald Trump’s pro-tech US administration, which warned against a blanket ban for under-16s.

In a response to the consultation, the US embassy in London said the country preferred “narrowly targeted requirements”, that “most content should be accessible by default”, and that age verification requirements could “impose disproportionate compliance burdens on American companies”.

The reforms come at a difficult time for Starmer’s premiership, which has been under pressure since Labour’s drubbing in May’s local and devolved elections.

His authority was dealt a further blow last week by the resignations of the defence secretary and the armed forces minister over military funding.

Furthermore, he could face a leadership challenge if Andy Burnham succeeds in his bid to return to Westminster in this week’s Makerfield by-election.

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Tory shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: “It’s shameful that it’s taken the prime minister’s job to be on the line for the government to finally U-turn and ban social media for under 16s.

“Three times Labour voted against a ban, failing to stand up to Big Tech and protect children from the extreme content they are exposed to every day.

“As Conservatives we did not give up, I kept fighting for the brave bereaved parents, health professionals, and campaigners who continued to make the case for change. This victory belongs to them.

“The Conservatives in opposition can make a difference and this change will finally help parents and protect childhood.”

Lord Nash, a Tory former education minister who led the campaign for an under-16s social media ban in the House of Lords, said: “The government now has an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and end tech companies’ uncontrolled experiment with children’s safety.

“They must deliver in full on their pledge to raise the age limit to 16 for harmful platforms and features, with robust age verification to ensure it is properly enforced.

“Only by doing this can they begin to end the catastrophic harm being done to a generation. Let’s give our children their childhood back.”

But some groups have argued that a ban may not be the appropriate instrument to tackle a wide spread of social media harms.

The Molly Rose Foundation, set up in memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017 after viewing harmful content online, said a social media ban “will fail to tackle fundamental product safety risks issues and leaves parents with a false sense of safety”.

Chief executive Andy Burrows said: “A majority of children will continue to use high-risk sites that will have no incentive to implement robust protections.

“This is not what online safety experts believe will work and is necessary. Keir Starmer has chosen to abdicate responsibility for tackling harmful algorithms and his legacy will be setting back children’s safety by years.”