UK teens will need to go back to reviewing their beans and toast by passing notes in class. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced yesterday that Britain will ban anyone under 16 from using social media sites, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube (though not YouTube Kids), X, Facebook, and Instagram.
The ban is wildly popular in the UK: A December YouGov poll reported 74% of people surveyed in the country support it.
The UK’s move comes amid a flood of blanket bans aimed at protecting youth mental health by keeping kids off social media that was kicked off by Australia last December. Other countries like Spain, France, Canada, Brazil, Malaysia, and South Korea have either passed or are exploring similar legislation.
Do these bans work? Um…maybe! Most of them are too recent to make a definitive call yet.
- In Australia, surveys suggest that seven in 10 kids under 16 who used social media before the country’s ban still have their accounts. This is mostly because age verification is extremely difficult to enforce.
- YouTube, Snapchat, and Meta have all separately argued that blanket bans can push children into less safe, unregulated spaces online. TikTok and X didn’t immediately respond to the UK’s announcement.
It’s not just social media companies that oppose the bans. Critics claim the bans compromise free speech and privacy, and that they remove pressure from companies to address addictive algorithms.—MM
