The UK's Proposed Under‑16 Social Media Ban: Scope, Challenges, and Open Questions

Will the United Kingdom Ban Social Media for Children Under 16? 

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (Children’s Bill) has taken on heightened significance following the House of Lords’ approval of Amendment 94A, which was passed by a substantial margin (261 votes to 150). The amendment has been widely described as introducing a “social media ban for under 16s,” slightly oversimplifying the legal scope of the amendment. 

What Social Media Would Be Affected by the Ban?

Currently, it is hard to tell. The amendment, titled “Action to promote the wellbeing of children in relation to social media,” lacks a definition of “social media.” As drafted, Amendment 94A imposes an obligation on all “regulated user-to-user services” (U2U) as defined under the Online Safety Act (OSA).

Scope of the U2U Services: Broad or Narrow?

The U2U definition does not fully align with how “social media” is commonly understood by the general audience. This raises interpretative and practical challenges and risks services being unintentionally implicated in the so-called “ban.” There is also tension between the amendment and the OSA’s underlying framework, which is built around risk-based safety duties as opposed to a categorical age-restriction ban. Ironically, a definition that may appear too broad in the aspect above seems to be too narrow to cover certain scenarios triggered by emerging technologies. Grok AI chatbot’s creation of sexual deepfakes is stress testing the definition. Although Ofcom noted in an update that certain standalone AI chatbots currently fall outside of the OSA, the government has since announced that it will move to “close the loophole” by bringing chatbot providers within the act’s illegal‑content duties. These changes are to be delivered through the Crime and Policing Bill.

What Obligation Does Amendment 94A Impose?

It requires that within one year of the act being passed into law, the secretary of state makes regulations requiring all regulated U2U services to use “highly effective age assurance” measures to prevent children under the age of 16 from becoming or being users. This should be in parallel to the Chief Medical Offices in the UK preparing and publishing advice for parents and carers on the use of social media (still undefined) “by children at different ages and developmental stages.” 

Is That All on Social Media From the Children’s Bill?

Amendment 92, which seems to go hand in hand with the social media ban, was also passed. It essentially prohibits the provision of VPN services to UK children by requiring VPN providers to have highly effective age assurance measures. The House of Lords also agreed on Amendment 215, a statutory ban to prohibit smartphone use and possession by students during the school day. Other proposed amendments from the House of Lords to the bill looked at limiting excessive use of addictive social media features by children or displaying health and well-being warnings for children on social media services, but these did not make it to the final amended Children’s Bill. 

What’s Next?

The Children’s Bill has now completed its third reading in the House of Lords and will return to the House of Commons for consideration of the Lords’ amendments.

What Are the Children’s Bill’s Expected Timings? 

Interestingly, the UK government’s announcement to hold a consultation on children’s social media use came just 48 hours before the House of Lords’ vote on the proposed social media ban. The government will be looking at different approaches taken around the world, “including looking at whether a social media ban for children would be effective and if one was introduced, how best to make it work,” with ministers visiting Australia to learn from their approach firsthand. Despite earlier assurances of a summer response, the consultation has still not been issued and is now anticipated in March, meaning almost a month has passed since the announcement without any publication.

Is This a Global Trend?

Following a social media ban implemented in Australia, proposals to ban or limit social media use by under 16s have proliferated in Europe, including France, Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. The debate is also emerging in other countries like India.

US Perspective

Similar legislation has been introduced in the United States such as the Kids Off Social Media Act, which would prohibit social media platforms from knowingly allowing children under the age of 13 to create or maintain accounts. Any legislation would need to be carefully considered in light of the protections provided by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Meanwhile, U.S. regulators are actively assessing how to responsibly implement age verification technologies, including through learnings from global online safety laws, as state laws proliferate with verification obligations.

This post was written with the help of Legal Business Analyst Harrison Moloney.