As part of broader measures to reduce mobile phone use among young people, the United Kingdom (UK) government has launched a consultation to examine whether children under 16 should be banned from using social media.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall announced the consultation on Monday, saying the Online Safety Act had already introduced steps to create a safer online environment.
“These laws were never meant to be the end point, and we know parents still have serious concerns. That is why I am prepared to take further action,” she said.
The consultation will consider introducing an age limit, methods to enforce it, restricting social media firms’ access to young users’ data, and limiting features such as “infinite scrolling” that can drive compulsive use.
Responses to the consultation will be sought from parents, young people and civil society. Officials will also explore stronger age verification methods and limiting features that encourage compulsive social media use. The government plans to respond to the consultation in the summer.
While the government also expects schools to be “phone-free by default”, the announcement comes ahead of a House of Lords vote on Wednesday on an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which would set the social media age limit at 16 within a year of the bill passing.
The move also follows calls from Esther Ghey, mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, who highlighted how her daughter’s eating disorder and self-harm tendencies were worsened by social media.
In a letter to the Prime Minister (PM) Keir Starmer, she wrote, “Brianna had a social media addiction and struggled with her mental health from the age of 14. She developed an eating disorder and was self-harming, and all of this was significantly exacerbated by the harmful content she was consuming online.”
The premier said he is open to the idea of a ban but wants to examine evidence from Australia, where a similar ban came into effect in December 2025. “We’re obviously looking at what’s happened in Australia, something I have discussed with the Australian prime minister.”