Extract from ABC News
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to act on protecting children in the United Kingdom from the harms of social media. (Reuters: Gareth Fuller)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to introduce a "game changer" social media policy that could extend beyond Australia's ban on children aged under 16 accessing some online platforms.
On Tuesday, local time, Mr Starmer met with the bereaved families of children who lost their lives after viewing harmful content online.
Ahead of the meeting he told reporters outside 10 Downing Street he would act to protect British children from the harms of social media.
Keir Starmer pledged to act on advice whether the UK should implement a mandatory minimum age for social media use. (Reuters: Leon Neal)
"The question now is not whether we do something, we are going to act,"he said.
"I'm absolutely clear that this needs to be something where there's a game changer."
Sir Keir's comments came on the same day a three-month period closed for a landmark government consultation that assessed possible paths of action for social media restrictions.
The consultation that launched in March sought to examine whether the United Kingdom should follow Australia in implementing a mandatory minimum age of use for social media, whether addictive features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay should be curbed, and whether tighter restrictions on AI chatbots and age verification should be introduced.
Sir Keir met with social media industry leaders in April to discuss a potential path of action. (Reuters: Leon Neal)
Sir Keir's government is expected to formally respond to the findings "in the summer, acting swiftly on the evidence gathered".
Political pressure on Sir Keir has been mounting after more than 70 MPs from within his own party publicly called for his resignation.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting, considered by some to be a potential political rival to Sir Keir, on Tuesday said the UK should look to go further than a ban on under-16s accessing social media.
"Social media should be treated like tobacco. It's extremely addictive, bad for our health, and big tech is borrowing the big tobacco playbook to avoid regulation,"he said.
"We've got to give our children their childhood back. A ban of under-16s must be the start, not the end."
After Australia became the first nation to implement a ban on social media use other countries have considered following suit.
These are the measures that have been announced or are being considered around the world.
Australia's world-first ban
On December 10, 2025, Australia's social media ban came into effect and prevented children aged under 16 from holding or accessing accounts made on various social media platforms.
Over the two days that followed, federal government data showed more than 4.7 million accounts on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat were deactivated.
Before December 10, more than 1.3 million Australians between eight and 15 used at least one social media platform.
The office of Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant also reported technology companies impacted by the new laws were making "meaningful attempts" to prevent underage users from accessing their accounts.
At the time Communications Minister Anika Wells described the numbers of deactivated accounts as a "huge achievement".
"We've said from the beginning that we weren't expecting perfection straight away, but early figures are showing this law is making a real, meaningful difference," she said.
Despite that, in the months after the ban was implemented some teenagers reported being able to circumvent the restrictions and maintained access to their social media accounts.
How Europe has acted
In the days leading up to Australia's social media ban coming into effect the European Union flagged it was "watching and will be learning" from the impact of the new laws.
On May 12, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said member states would seek stronger protections for children, opening the door to social media age limits for teenagers.
Ms Von der Leyen said the commission would target "addictive and harmful design practices" in its Digital Fairness Act, a planned law due to be proposed later this year, while an expert panel prepared advice on how to proceed.
The European Parliament also agreed in November on a resolution calling for a minimum age of 16 on social media.
It urged a harmonised EU digital age limit of 13 for social media access and an age limit of 13 for video-sharing services and "AI companions".
Elsewhere in Europe, Denmark confirmed in November it would ban social media for children aged under 15, although teens as young as 13 could access some platforms with parental consent.
In France, the National Assembly voted in January to approve laws that would ban under-15s.
The French Senate approved social media restrictions in April but adopted a plan to introduce a two-tiered system to handle certain platforms differently, rather than the National Assembly's push for a blanket age ban.
The conflict means the future of the laws will likely remain undecided until 2027.
In Germany, children aged between 13 and 16 are allowed to use social media only if their parents provide consent, but child protection advocates say the controls are insufficient.
Greece announced plans in April to introduce a ban for under-15s which would not take effect until January 2027, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
In Italy, under-14s are legally required to have parental consent to use social media, while Norway, Poland and Slovenia have all signalled they are preparing laws that would restrict platform use for children under 15.
Restrictions in Spain would ban children under 16 and new rules such as the mandated inclusion of age verification systems are being prepared for certain social media and AI platforms, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in February.
In April, the BBC reported Austria had announced plans in April for a ban for under-14s, while Turkish politicians passed a bill on April 22 to restrict platform use for children under 15.
Asian giants bring in bans
In January the chief economic adviser of the world's most-populous nation called for the implementation of age restrictions for social media use.
Indian economist Venkatramanan Anantha Nageswaran described social media companies as "predatory" in their methods to maintain a consistent, engaged online audience.
Two months later India's southern state of Karnataka, the tech hub of Bengaluru, banned social media for under-16s although Chief Minister Siddaramaiah did not say when it would take effect.
In China the country's cyberspace regulator introduced a so-called "minor mode" program requiring device-level restrictions and app-specific rules to restrict screen time depending on age, Reuters reported.
Indonesian communications and digital affairs minister Meutya Hafid confirmed in March the country will look to bring in a ban for under-16s on "high risk" platforms, the BBC said, while Malaysia announced a similar measure in November in a bid to crack down on cyberbullying and scams, The Associated Press reported.
Some movement in The Americas
In the United States, legislation that would force social media companies to do more to protect child users have faced varying levels of opposition along free speech grounds.
On May 12, Republican Senator Ted Cruz said he would support the Kids Online Safety Act which would require social media companies to "exercise reasonable care" in designing features that contribute to harming minors.
The bill is still being considered in a US congressional committee. It is a separate law to the US's Children's Online Privacy Protection Act which prevents companies from collecting personal data from children under 13 without parental consent.
In 2023, Utah became the first US state to pass a ban on users aged under 18 from using platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook without parental consent.
Elsewhere in Latin America, Brazil is the only nation to have passed a dedicated social media restriction.
On March 17, the country's Digital Statute of Children and Adolescents came into effect requiring people aged under 16 to link their social media accounts to a legal guardian for supervision.
The law also bans platforms using addictive features such as infinite scrolling and video autoplay, while technology companies have to introduce age verification mechanisms beyond a user self-declaration.
ABC/Wires
No comments:
Post a Comment