UK Prime Minister Announces Under-16s Social Media Ban

Two teenage boys look at iPhone smartphone screens on June 1, 2026, in Cornwall, England (Getty Images)

TAKING ACCOUNTS

Britain announces social media ban for under-16s starting early 2027

The UK government plans to use the same model for the restrictions as Australia — but how successful has that case study been so far?

Millie Giles

Commiserations (or cry reacts?) to chronically online British teens: the UK will officially enact a social media ban for children under the age of 16, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday.

The landmark ban is set for a formal nationwide launch in spring 2027 once legislation is finalized, restricting under-16s from using platforms such as Alphabet’s YouTube, Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, as well as X, TikTok, and Snapchat. However, per a government press release, messaging services like Meta’s WhatsApp won’t be covered by the ban.

Unfollowing suit

News of the bill comes after months of speculation that the UK would take a cue from Australia’s ban, after the House of Lords voted to amend the Schools Bill in January. The Oceanic nation passed the then first-of-its-kind full social media ban in November 2024, which was enacted over a year later in December 2025. Since then, countries like Spain and Greece, among others, have moved to curb adolescents’ social media use.

Unsurprisingly, social media companies (and some schoolchildren) have reacted with similar disdain to the UK ban as they did to Australia’s restrictions. But now, more than six months later, just how successful has the social media ban Down Under actually been in keeping kids offline?

Teens social media use Australia — Sherwood News

A large-scale poll of Australians aged 12 to 15 conducted by the Molly Rose Foundation and research agency YouthInsight found that ~61% of respondents who previously held accounts on restricted platforms still had access to active accounts as of March 2026.

Proportionately, over half of teens who previously used YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram were still able to use these platforms, with more than a fifth of the cohort overall still having accounts on each of the top 5 platforms in the survey. Even so, the legislation remains relatively popular with Australian parents... and, according to a Fox News poll from last December, two-thirds of Americans are eager to thumbs-up a similar ban.

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