What UK social media ban on children could look like - as government considers action

Ministers are consulting connected banning societal media for under-16s successful the UK - conscionable weeks aft a prohibition successful Australia came into force.

The government's consultation volition look astatine assorted options, including expanding the integer property of consent and restricting perchance addictive app plan features specified arsenic "streaks" and "infinite scrolling".

There person been increasing calls for Sir Keir Starmer to instrumentality action, and the announcement comes up of the Lords voting connected a Conservative amendment to Labour's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which would unit societal media platforms to halt under-16s from utilizing their platforms wrong a twelvemonth of it passing.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said it volition besides beryllium taking contiguous enactment connected children's societal media use.

This would see directing media regulator Ofsted to analyse schools' mobile telephone policies and however efficaciously they are enactment into signifier during inspections.

The authorities volition besides nutrient surface clip guidance for parents of children aged betwixt 5 and 16. It said guidance for parents of under-fives volition beryllium published successful April.

The authorities volition question views from parents and young radical and the authorities volition respond successful the summer.

An Australian inspiration?

Ministers volition sojourn Australia arsenic portion of the consultation.

A societal media prohibition for under-16s was implemented determination successful December. Ten of the biggest societal media platforms successful Australia were ordered to bring successful the prohibition oregon look fines of up to AU$49.5m (£25m).

The companies were required to find ways to adjacent existing accounts for under-16s and forestall caller ones from being created.

The instrumentality is designed to support children from imaginable intelligence wellness risks, inappropriate contented and cyber-bullying.

Which platforms are affected by prohibition successful Australia?

The age-restricted platforms include:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• Threads
• TikTok
• Twitch
• X
• YouTube
• Kick

More generally, property restrictions use to societal media platforms that conscionable 3 circumstantial conditions, unless the Australian authorities determines they should beryllium excluded.

The conditions are:

• The sole purpose, oregon a important purpose, of the work is to alteration online societal enactment betwixt 2 oregon much users

• The work allows users to nexus to, oregon interact with, immoderate oregon each of the different end-users

• The work allows users to station worldly connected the service

Platforms are liable for determining whether they acceptable the criteria and doing their ain ineligible assessments.

What apps are not age-restricted?

But the Australian authorities has indicated the database could alteration arsenic caller products are launched, and young users power to alternatives.

How bash societal media companies comply with ban?

Australia's Online Safety Amendment Act 2024 requires companies to instrumentality "reasonable steps" to forestall underage users from signing up and utilizing their platform; they could look fines of up to $49.5m (£25m) for failing to comply.

Of the archetypal 10 banned platforms, each but Elon Musk's X person said they volition comply utilizing property inference. This involves guessing a person's property from their online enactment - oregon property estimation, which is usually based connected a selfie.

They whitethorn besides cheque with uploaded recognition documents oregon linked slope relationship details.

But the Australian authorities has said requesting ID cannot beryllium the lone method to find someone's age.

Meta - the proprietor of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads - said successful submissions to the Australian authorities past twelvemonth that the authorities was "a missed accidental and overlooks the applicable world of property assurance exertion arsenic good arsenic the views of a bulk of intelligence wellness and younker information organisations successful the country".

The company, chaired by Mark Zuckerberg, began to exclude suspected young children from its platforms a week earlier the prohibition was implemented, but antecedently admitted that it expects issues with its technology, which could effect successful accounts belonging to radical who are really implicit 16 accidentally being unopen down.

TikTok said it volition person a "multi-layered attack to property assurance," portion Snapchat volition usage behavioural signals for property estimations.

Is the determination controversial?

Prior to the passing of the prohibition successful Australia's parliament past year, much than 140 nationalist and planetary academics with expertise successful fields related to exertion and kid payment signed an unfastened missive to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opposing a societal media property bounds arsenic "too blunt an instrumentality to code risks effectively".

In Sydney, 2 15-year-olds person sued the Australian authorities implicit the ban.

One of the claimants, Noah Jones, who turns 16 successful August, has argued the prohibition volition contradict 2.6 cardinal young Australians of a close to state of governmental connection implied successful Australia's constitution.

As Meta did successful its submissions to the Australian government, respective different platforms besides deed retired astatine the move.

Google and YouTube Australia's nationalist argumentation elder manager, Rachel Lord, said the tract volition automatically motion retired users who are deemed to beryllium nether 16.

But, she said, they tin inactive presumption immoderate YouTube videos portion signed out, and parents volition "lose their quality to supervise their teen oregon tween's account" and usage controls specified arsenic blocking channels.

In response, Australia's communications curate Anika Wells said it was "outright weird that YouTube is ever astatine pains to punctual america each however unsafe their level is successful a logged retired state".

What person radical said astir imaginable UK ban?

Esther Ghey, whose girl Brianna was murdered astatine the property of 16 by 2 different teenagers successful 2023, said a prohibition would beryllium "a captious measurement successful protecting children online".

In a missive to enactment leaders Sir Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Ed Davey, Ms Ghey said her girl had had a "social media addiction" and "desperately wanted to beryllium TikTok famous", putting her "in changeless fearfulness astir who Brianna mightiness beryllium speaking to online".

Ms Badenoch has already said the Conservative Party would introduce a ban for under-16s if it was successful power.

The Tory person said the consultation was "more dither and delay" from Labour.

Paul Whiteman, wide caput astatine schoolhouse leaders' national the NAHT, said: "It's important that we larn from different countries and see the unintended consequences arsenic good arsenic the advantages of specified an approach."

But helium added: "The immense bulk of schools already person restrictions connected the usage of mobile phones connected schoolhouse sites.

"The government's proposition that Ofsted should beryllium 'policing' schoolhouse policies is profoundly unhelpful and misguided. School leaders request enactment from government, not the menace of heavy-handed inspection."

Chris Sherwood, main enforcement astatine the NSPCC, besides welcomed the authorities consultation, saying tech companies "have prioritised nett implicit children's safety".

"Taking guardant measures to guarantee products are harmless by plan would beryllium a captious measurement successful redressing that balance," helium added.