Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she would ban children under 16 from using social media if her party returned to government, arguing current laws do not go far enough to protect young people online.
Badenoch said platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat should be legally required to carry out robust age checks to prevent under-16s from accessing their services. Her proposal mirrors recent action in Australia, which became the first country to introduce a nationwide ban on social media use for children under 16.
In the UK, online safety is already governed by the Online Safety Act, a law introduced by the Conservatives before they left office. Rolled out in stages since 2024, the act requires tech companies to stop children from seeing harmful content and to offer experiences that are appropriate for their age. Firms that break the rules can face large fines, criminal penalties for senior staff, or even being blocked in the UK in the most serious cases.
However, Ms Badenoch said these measures do not address what she sees as the core problem. She argued that many platforms are designed to be addictive and profit from children’s anxiety and lack of attention. “Children are spending hours a day on platforms that are engineered to keep them hooked,” she said.
The Labour government, led by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, has rejected the idea of a blanket ban. A government spokesperson said the Online Safety Act already represents some of the toughest child protection rules in the world and strikes the right balance between safety and allowing young people to benefit from the digital world.
Currently, most major social media apps require users to be at least 13 years old to sign up, though critics argue these limits are easy to bypass.
The debate has drawn strong views from across politics and education. The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) teachers’ union has backed a ban for under-16s, saying excessive social media use can harm mental health, reduce concentration in school and contribute to poor behaviour.
The Liberal Democrats said they have long warned about online harms but accused the Conservatives of failing to back a proposal last year to raise the digital age of consent to 16.
Labour’s Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said he agreed with many of Ms Badenoch’s concerns adding that social media can negatively affect children’s mental health and focus. “Children are not adults. We regulate many aspects of their lives to protect them, and the online world should be no different.”
For now, Labour says it will focus on enforcing existing laws and ensuring children only see content suitable for their age, rather than introducing a full ban.
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