The UK Government continues to misrepresent this policy as a necessary response to growing concerns about online harms to young people. In reality, like online security actIt will cause more harm than it prevents.
The ban includes social media platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, placing the burden on users of all ages to prove their age before accessing content. there remains No reliable, privacy-preserving method Verifying the age of each Internet user and methods vary From one platform to another.
Young people will not only be protected from being contacted by adults or from endless scrolling – they will also lose access to educational videos on YouTube, local events on Facebook, and potentially even be cut off from distant friends and family.
Public policy must be effective, proportionate and respectful of fundamental rights. Young people deserve better than a policy based on panic and all internet users deserve a safe and free internet. Banning social media makes headlines, but it won’t solve the problem.
A brief history of age-gating in the UK
Proposals for age restrictions in the UK date back a decade, when Proposed Digital Economy Bill It was introduced to (among other things) prevent young people from accessing pornographic websites. While the Digital Economy Act of 2017 passed without age-based restrictions, it laid the groundwork for later age verification measures.
Over the next few years, age checks for porn websites were introduced announced delayed again many times. But it was not until the 2016-2019 consultation under the May Government and the publication of the 2020 Online Loss Whitepaper That age verification became a widespread idea.
Britain passed in 2023 controversial The Online Security Act establishes powers that could weaken privacy protections and freedom of expression for Internet users around the world. Government in July 2025 implemented Age assurance measures on sites hosting “harmful” content.
And despite the politicians confirming again and again That the Online Security Act would solve all the problems associated with online security, this year they decided that it actually didn’t go far enough. American social psychologist and anxious generation Author Jonathan Haidt- who has called for Despite this, there are age-related restrictions on social media around the world Important scientific doubt About his research-Met Britain’s Health Secretary To insist on a ban in February.
in March, Politicians presented plans The Child Welfare and Schools Bill seeks to ban social media “to prevent children under the age of 16 from accessing or becoming users of “all regulated user-to-user services”, to be implemented by “highly effective age assurance measures” – effectively banning children under the age of 16 from social media.
When this proposal came before the House of Commons, the MPs Defeated and proposed them self modification: to enable the Secretary of State to introduce provisions “requiring providers of specified internet services” to prevent access by children under 18 rather than 16 to specified internet services or specified facilities; and restricting children’s access to specified internet services provided by Ministers.
But the ban on social media does not stop here. The provision also requires Internet service providers to limit the time children spend online, and have rules about who can contact them online. These extreme regulations would take decisions about technology use away from families and put them into the hands of government regulators.
The history of this proposal shows that the UK government has repeatedly returned to the same flawed idea: restricting access to online services through requiring age checks for everyone. But the basic problems have not changed. There is still no widely available way to verify age online without compromising privacy – but even if there were, blanket restrictions on social media would inevitably limit legitimate speech, and access to valuable online communities and arts and culture.
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