Social media to be banned for under-16s in landmark government move to give kids their childhood back
www.gov.uk
Social media platforms to be blocked from offering services to under-16s, marking a line in the sand and setting a new normal for future generations.
  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    71·
    2 days ago

    In a move to protect children online and address the scale of the challenge, the government will also go further than a blanket ban on social media with world-leading blocks on harmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s. These restrictions – which together with the ban go further than any other country – will apply to a wider range of online services, including on gaming sites.

    Restrictions on these functionalities will also be on by default for under 16- and 17-year-olds to prevent a cliff-edge at 16. The government will also be looking in more detail at overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under-18-year-olds and will set out more detail in July.

    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/youth-voters-labour-election_uk_69e86af8e4b0fa6ffe8ffa5a

    Labour risks losing “a generation of young voters” to the Greens and Reform, according to one of its own MPs.

    Luke Charters told HuffPost UK that Labour has always been the “party young people backed when it mattered”.

    But he warned: “If we don’t show we’re serious about delivering, we risk losing a generation to populists peddling false hope.”

    Labour legalised voting for 16 and 17-year-olds, too.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/representation-of-the-people-bill-policy-summaries/votes-at-16

    Representation of the People Bill 2026: Extending the right to vote to 16 and 17 year olds

    I’m not sure that these are necessarily the most-advantageous policies for Labour to adopt in conjunction with each other, but I suppose that we will see how it works out.