UK is considering an Australia-style ban on social media to protect children online, prime minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday, warning they risk being pulled into “a world of endless scrolling, anxiety and comparison”.
Starmer said the government was prepared to take action, a day after it said it would examine whether features such as infinite scrolling and the age at which children can access platforms should be restricted.
The government said it would review evidence from around the world on proposals, including whether a social media ban for children would be effective and how such a ban could be implemented if imposed.
“This is a hugely complex issue – so it's important it's properly considered,” Starmer said on Substack.
Ministers will visit Australia, which last month became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, to learn from its approach, the government said on Monday. It did not specify an age threshold, saying it was exploring a ban “for children under a certain age” and other measures such as better age checks and whether the current digital age of consent was too low.
The proposals come as governments and regulators worldwide address risks linked to children’s exposure to social media and the impact of screen time on development and mental health. The recent increase in AI-generated content online has added to those concerns, highlighted this month by reports of Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot generating non-consensual sexual images, including of minors.
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The British government has already set out plans for a ban on artificial intelligence nudification tools, while working to stop children from taking, sharing or viewing nude images on their devices, it said in Monday's statement. It is also considering removing or limiting functions that could drive addictive or compulsive use of social media.
Britain's recently enforced Online Safety Act has increased the share of children encountering age checks online to 47 per cent from 30 per cent, while cutting visits to pornography sites by a third, according to the government.
“These laws were never meant to be the end point, and we know parents still have serious concerns,” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said.
Starmer said childhood should not mean judgement from strangers or pressure to perform for likes, adding that “for too many today, it means being pulled into a world of endless scrolling, anxiety and comparison”.
“We will work with experts to identify the most effective measures we can take to do more,” he said, adding that “no option is off the table”.
The government said it would produce evidence-based screen time guidance for parents of children aged 5 to 16, with separate guidance for under-fives to be published in April.
(With inputs from agencies)
