Children face a social media ban or restrictions on addictive apps under plans to boost safety online. Here The Mirror looks at what changes could be brought in
Ministers are set for a crunch decision on whether to ban social media for children.
Keir Starmer has vowed action is coming “very quickly” after top medics likened screen time and social media to smoking and not using seatbelts. A consultation on next steps closes today – with former Health Secretary Wes Streeting joining calls for an Australian-style ban for under-16s from apps like Snapchat, Instagram and X.
Mr Starmer said: “I’ll be really clear, the question now is not whether we do something, we are going to act, I’m absolutely clear that this needs to be something where there’s a game changer. So, we will be acting. The question is only what we do, and that will be coming very quickly, because we took powers earlier this year to make sure we can act very, very quickly.”
Bereaved families have called on the Government to act to protect kids from harmful content online. But there is no consensus on how to do this.
MPs have voted against a fast-track ban for under-16s – with ministers saying they will first assess the findings of the consultation. Here The Mirror looks at what the Government is considering – and what could change for children online.
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1. Social media ban
The Prime Minister has faced mounting pressure to introduce a social media ban for under 16s after Australia did so in December. Earlier this year, Spain became the latest European country to make plans for a social media ban, following similar proposals France, Denmark and Austria. Different countries are exploring different age cut-offs for a ban.
More than 60 MPs and some bereaved parents have urged the PM to introduce a ban in the UK. But other bereaved families and experts have warned a ban could bring “unintended consequences” and drive kids into other unregulated spaces on the internet, like chatrooms or gaming platforms. They also want tech firms to make social media platforms safer to prevent a “cliff edge” when teens turn 16.
Ministers have said they are watching Australia closely and will follow where the evidence takes them.
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2. Curfews and app caps
The Government is also considering phone curfews and app caps.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has previously signalled her interest in limiting children’s access to social media could to two hours per app or restricting access during school hours. Overnight curfews, such as blocking an app at 10pm until the morning, are also expected to be considered.
In an interview with The Mirror in November, Ms Kendall said she will look at “anything” and do “whatever it takes to keep kids safe online”. She took over the Science, Innovation and Technology brief in September from Peter Kyle, who is now the Business Secretary. Mr Kyle had previously suggested the social media restrictions to help tackle kids’ addiction to the online world.
3. Doom-scrolling
Restricting potentially addictive design features such as ‘streaks’ and ‘infinite scrolling’ are also being considered.
Streaks are achieved by consecutive daily interactions on a platform, while infinite scrolling is a design pattern where an app automatically loads as users scroll down a feed. The addictive nature of such designs means children can spend hours ‘doom-scrolling’ on their phone.
The consultation is also looking at whether videos should autoplay – meaning they start playing automatically without a user needing to press play. This means youngsters can be exposed to content that they wouldn’t otherwise have selected.
While the Online Safety Act brought in restrictions on illegal and harmful content, ministers have admitted more needs to be done to ensure kids aren’t wasting their lives being sucked into addictive apps.
4. Gaming
Ms Kendall has raised concerns about children playing video games with strangers online.
She told The Mirror earlier this year: “A couple of things that we will be consulting on which are around your sort of services, certain features and functions that people are worried about like live streaming, and stranger pairing on games.
“For some types of games, young people can be paired with strangers. We’re really worried about that, so we’re going to consult on that and we’re going to have a power within this bill (Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill) to actually take action on it and put an age cap on that to say you are not allowed to have stranger pairings beneath it.”
5. Age of digital consent
The consultation will also consider increasing the digital age of consent.
This is the age at which a child may give consent to the processing of their personal data. Currently in the UK it is 13. Some campaigners have called for it to be raised to 16 to stop kids being targeted by addictive algorithms or having their data exploited by tech firms.
National Education Union chief Daniel Kebede is among those to have called for the digital age of consent to be raised to 16.
6. VPNs
The consultation is also looking at bringing in age restrictions or limiting children’s virtual private networks (VPNs) use where it undermines safety protections.
When online safety laws came into force last year, there was a surge in VPN downloads. People can get around the rules by using VPNs, which allow users to hide their real location.
Concerns have been raised that children and young people are using VPNs to get around important protections, such as age verification measures to block them from pornography.
7. AI chatbots
Ministers have already announced plans to close a legal loophole to protect children from harmful interactions with AI chatbots.
This follows government action to call out abhorrent non-consensual intimate images being created by Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok on X. The demands led to the function being removed.
As part of the consultation, the Government has also looked at potential restrictions on children’s use of AI chatbots.