UK considers Australia-style social media ban for kids

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Britain is exploring various strategies to enhance online safety for children, including potentially implementing an Australian-style ban on social media for users under a certain age, along with stricter guidelines for mobile phone use in schools. The government announced on Monday that it will review global evidence on a range of proposals, such as the effectiveness of a social media ban for minors and the best ways to enforce it if adopted.

Officials plan to visit Australia, which recently became the first country to prohibit social media access for those under 16, to learn from their approach. While no specific age limit was specified, the government is considering a ban “for children under a certain age,” complemented by measures like improved age verification and an assessment of whether the current digital age of consent is set too low.

These discussions come amid worldwide efforts to address the dangers of social media exposure for children, including concerns about screen time’s impact on their growth and mental well-being. The rise of AI-generated online content has intensified these worries, especially following reports of Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot producing non-consensual images of minors.

The UK government has already outlined plans to ban AI tools that facilitate nudification and is working to prevent children from creating, sharing, or viewing nude images on their devices. Additionally, officials are considering removing or restricting features like infinite scrolling that may encourage addictive or compulsive social media habits.

Since implementing the recently enacted Online Safety Act, which enforces some of the strictest safety measures, there’s been a notable increase in the proportion of children subjected to online age checks—from 30% to 47%. The legislation has also reduced visits to pornography sites by a third. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall emphasized that these laws are just the beginning, expressing a willingness to pursue further actions to protect young users.