EuroWire, LONDON: The British government will introduce restrictions on social media access for children under 16, ministers said as the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill moved through its final parliamentary stages after weeks of debate over whether a direct ban should be written into law. The government has not yet set the final model, but it has committed to age-based or functionality-based limits and told lawmakers the issue is now how it will act, not whether it will act.
The issue has been contested in both chambers of Parliament, with peers backing amendments that would have required regulated user-to-user services to stop under-16s from becoming users within 12 months of the bill becoming law. Ministers rejected placing a blanket under-16 limit directly in the bill, saying the public consultation should conclude before a final threshold and enforcement design are fixed. As of Tuesday, the bill remained in consideration of amendments as Parliament worked through the final text.
Instead, the government’s own amendments would give the secretary of state power to require internet services to prevent or restrict access by children to whole services or to specific features and functionalities. The draft provisions also allow regulations to limit how long children can use a service each day and at what times of day they can access it. They also require ministers to report to Parliament within six months if the first set of regulations has not yet been made.
UK sets path for under-16 restrictions
The consultation, opened on March 2 by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, closes at 11:59 p.m. on May 26. It seeks views on setting a minimum age for social media, switching off design features such as infinite scroll and autoplay, strengthening age assurance, and applying limits to gaming platforms and AI chatbots. Ministers told the House of Lords this week that the exercise had already received more than 55,000 responses from the public and interested groups.
The government has also started a six-week pilot in 300 teenage households across the UK to test how different restrictions work in practice. The trial includes full app blocking, one-hour daily limits, a 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. social media curfew, and a control group. Officials said the pilot is designed to measure the effect on sleep, family life and schoolwork, while also identifying practical issues such as workarounds used by teenagers and the setup of parental controls by families.
Ofcom Tightens Platform Pressure
Separate regulatory pressure is already being applied by Ofcom under the Online Safety Act. On March 12, the regulator told Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube to enforce their minimum age rules with highly effective age checks and to explain by the end of April what further steps they will take to protect children. Ofcom said it would publish an update in May on the companies’ responses and announce any next regulatory action arising from that review.
Ministers have said they will respond to the consultation by the summer, while the bill framework now before Parliament would allow age thresholds and service restrictions to be set in secondary legislation. For now, the confirmed position is that the government has committed to new limits on under-16s’ use of social media and related online services, but the exact scope will be settled after the consultation closes and Parliament completes the bill’s remaining stages.