LONDON – UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing to announce a ban on under-16s using social media within days after his position hardened following parents’ response to a government consultation.
Nine in ten parents who responded to the consultation said they wanted to see such a ban, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told Sky News on the morning of June 9.
She said she’s considering two broad options: a “blanket” ban on under-16s using social media, or age restrictions on key features of social networks and apps. “A ban is on the table,” she said.
The policy is likely to be announced in the next week as part of a series of announcements by Starmer, whose premiership is under threat from a likely leadership challenge this summer from Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
Also expected in the coming days is the government’s long-awaited defence investment plan – including an uptick in spending – which ministers have promised will come before a NATO summit in early July.
Kendall said ministers are looking at how they could use age verification tools introduced in Britain in 2025 restricting access to pornography sites to adults to prevent children from using social media.
Those tools typically require a user to confirm their age using their banking or credit card details, or an age check from their mobile network operator.
Kendall rejected newspaper reports that she was considering water down the policy by exempting some social media sites from a ban.
In a speech on June 8, Starmer said tech firms had three months to introduce “device controls” that prevent children from sending and receiving sexually explicit images.
Kendall said that if the likes of Apple and Google do not comply with his warning, the government would legislate to compel them to do so. BLOOMBERG
