UK under-16s social media ban will go additional than Australia – all the pieces Keir Starmer might announce right now

On Jun 14, 2026

Keir Starmer is expected to announce a ban on social media for under 16s on Monday as part of a seismic package of online safety measures to protect youngsters online

22:30, 14 Jun 2026Updated 22:30, 14 Jun 2026

Keir Starmer is expected to announce a ban on social media for under 16s on Monday as part of a seismic package of online safety measures to protect youngsters.

The PM will pledge to take on the tech giants and “call time on a system that’s failing kids”.

Mr Starmer on Sunday night said: “How we keep kids safe online is one of the biggest debates of our time. As a dad, I know every parent wants their child to grow up safe and happy.

“This is a choice about whose side we’re on: families across the country, or a status quo that isn’t working. People rightly expect action, and this government will always stand up for parents and put children first.

“That’s why we will call time on a system that’s failing our kids and take bold action to give every child the best possible start in life.”

How would a social media ban work?

Pressure has ramped up on Keir Starmer to take bold action on online safety since Australia introduced a social media ban for under 16s in December.

In Australia, the country’s eSafety Commissioner included ten platforms within the scope of the minimum age restrictions including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X, YouTube Threads and Reddit. Streaming platforms Kick and Twitch are also covered by the ban. A ban in the UK is also expected to cover the biggest social media platforms and apply to under 16s.

The UK has already enforced strict age verification measures across social media sites after the Online Safety Act came into force last July. The minimum age for most platforms is currently age 13.

Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, recommends a wide range of measures to verify someone’s age, including using tech to analyse a photo or video of someone, using open banking or credit card age checks, or confirming someone’s age through their mobile network operator.

But research suggests the UK has problems with verifying age (as has been found in Australia), with one study showing young people are getting around age checks by using fake birthdays, shared accounts, altered photos and even drawing on false moustaches. Nearly half of kids (46%) believe age checks are easy to bypass, according to the Internet Matters survey last month.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has admitted lessons around age verification measures need to be learned from Australia.

The UK package is also expected to go further than Australia and apply restrictions to gaming platforms and AI chatbots. There will also be measures to curb young people aged 16 and 17 from excessive social media use and to prevent there being a cliff edge when children hit their 16th Birthday.

Implementing a ban will require legislation, so parents will still have to wait before they see one come into effect. Powers under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act allow the Government to introduce new online safety measures without the need for fresh primary legislation.

Instead, secondary legislation – which is much faster to pass – will be used. MPs and peers will still get the chance to debate and vote on the issue. Ms Kendall last week said she wants any legislation for a ban to be “passed by the end of the year”. It is likely Ofcom will then need time to enforce the ban in practice.

A change in Labour leader could also through the timeline off course.

The PM will unveil the widely-debated measures on Monday, following a three-month consultation which closed on May 26.

It is unconfirmed which social media companies will face a ban but the UK is expected to follow Australia in curbing access to major platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X YouTube, Reddit and Snapchat are expected to be included.

The plans will go further than Australia, where a ban came into force in December. The UK is expected to extend certain measures to AI chatbots and gaming platforms, as well as introduce restrictions on social media use for 16- and 17-year-olds to curb late-night scrolling.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said banning social media on its own is not a “silver bullet” but that Australia’s ban showed it had a “significant role to play”. She said a ban won’t stop all young people going on social media but will “change the presumption” of kids as young as eight, nine, 10 and 11, who were “not really emotionally equipped to be able to cope with it”, being online simply because all of their friends were.

“I don’t think banning social media on its own is the silver bullet solution, but I do think Australia has shown very clearly that it has a significant role to play,” Ms Nandy said, adding that it should be part of a “basket of measures”.

Ms Nandy said she disagreed with bereaved dad Ian Russell, who is against a ban and wants a more sophisticated package of measures to tackle online harms.

She said: “There is an urgency to this, because young people need help now and we cannot stand aside and not act when we see that very clearly. And the tech companies have had more than enough time to get their own house in order and to be able to create products that keep children safe online.”

Mr Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life in 2017 after being bombarded by suicide and self-harm content online, told The Sunday Mirror he feels “desperately let down” by Mr Starmer, accusing him of taking the easier route over making social media safer in the long-term.

He said: “It’s just desperately disappointing that young people in this country, instead of change happening and a safe digital space for them to grow up in – if these reports (of a ban) are to be believed – what will be left behind is the same dangerous digital landscape.”

Nine in 10 parents who responded to the Government’s online safety consultation demanded Australia-style age limits. More than six in 10 (62%) young people said restricting risky features – such as the ability to send explicit images, livestreaming would make them feel safer. But 72% also said they were worried about feeling left out if restrictions came in. The consultation saw 116,000 responses from parents, industry and young people themselves.

Other bereaved parents are fiercely in favour of a ban. Ellen Roome, who believes her son Julian “Jools” Sweeney, 14, died while attempting an online challenge in 2022, previously criticised MPs for rejecting an attempt by peers to ban social media for under 16s.

Ms Roome, who is suing TikTok with other British families over their children’s deaths, told The Mirror in March: “For families like mine, this is not a theoretical debate. My 14-year-old son Jools died in 2022, and since then I have met many other parents whose children have also been harmed through social media platforms.”

Lord Nash, a Tory peer who has led efforts in the Lords to ban social media, added: “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.

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“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.”

Co-chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for digital creators, Labour’s Feryal Clark, argued young people should not lose access to good-quality content that helps young people learn and find communities.She said: “High-quality, creator-led educational video content is a critical public resource and is not the same thing as social media. “For example, many young people use it to revise for GCSEs, to learn a language or a musical instrument.“Any legislative intervention must capably address this distinction. Failing to do so would be dangerously short-sighted and cut off opportunities from young people at exactly the moment they need these things most.”

It also comes after Mr 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.