THE government has announced that it will be consulting on banning social media platforms from offering services to under 16s.

The plans will set a new normal for future generations, kickstarting a cultural shift and driving forward the government’s fight to give every child the best possible start in life.

The government will aim to use the same model for a social media ban as that which is in place in Australia. This would capture user-to-user platforms, whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material, alongside algorithms.

This includes platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. We do not intend for messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal to be included in the social media ban.

In a move to protect children online and address the scale of the challenge, the government will also go further than banning social media companies offering their services to under-16s, with world-leading blocks for under-16s on harmful functions such as livestreaming and strangers communicating with children.

These restrictions – which together with the ban go further than any other country – will apply to a wider range of online services, including gaming sites. These functionalities will also be turned off by default for 16 and 17-year-olds to prevent a cliff-edge at 16. Government will also be looking in more detail at overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under 18s and will set out more detail in July.

So-called AI ‘romantic companion’ chatbots – designed to simulate sexual relationships or roleplay with users – will have to enforce a minimum age of 18. Similar intimate functionalities will be restricted for under-18s on AI chatbots more widely. Taken together, these measures will mean a much more comprehensive model than just a blanket ban on social media – one that responds to how children experience harm online, rather than just where it happens.

The changes will back parents grappling with the risks for children that come from the online world and help empower them by providing a clear decision on what is safe and age appropriate for children. This is a decisive step by the government which marks a clear choice to put children’s wellbeing first and give them a healthy life online.

However, this is not one and done. We will return in July with a further update on other areas included in the consultation. This Labour government is determined to give children the freedom to be kids again. And we are working cross-government to do that including further steps to make sure children in every part of the country get greater access to enrichment opportunities in sport, creative activities, nature and the arts both in and out of school.

This builds on wider work to halve the participation gap and reclaim childhood for all young people, including through reforms to the curriculum so that every child gets the skills they need to get on in life, and support throughout their school years to explore and develop their talents, regardless of their background or where they live.