*Britain plans to lock children younger than 16 out of major social networking apps starting early next year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday. Failing to enforce the age limit could cost a company millions in fines, Fox News reports.
The new rules cover TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and X. WhatsApp, Signal, and YouTube Kids are carved out of the policy.
“Every parent can see it with their own eyes. Social media is making children unhappy,” Starmer told reporters. “I’ve heard first hand from families crying out for change and we will do right by them.”
Starmer said the policy responds to parental frustration, not a desire to punish kids who slip past it. Enforcement, he added, will fall on the platforms, not the children who use them.
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The move adds Britain to a growing list of countries restricting young people’s access to social media. Australia barred under-16 social media accounts last year, becoming the first country to do so. Brazil, Canada, and Indonesia have also rolled out or floated their own age-based restrictions, according to Fox News. South Korea, Thailand, Denmark, Spain, and France are weighing similar moves.
Tech giants pushed back against the plan. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, argued that shutting teens out entirely could backfire, Newsday reports. A YouTube spokesperson echoed that worry, saying minors locked out of supervised platforms might end up somewhere less safe.
“Blanket bans push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less-safe services,” the spokesperson said.
Meta warned that teens shut out of mainstream apps might turn to platforms with no parental controls at all. Starmer brushed off the criticism, maintaining that the policy can still work in practice. “I do believe we can enforce it,” he said.
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