{"id":22420,"date":"2026-06-15T17:51:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T14:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/?p=22420"},"modified":"2026-06-15T17:52:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T14:52:26","slug":"uk-ban-social-media-under-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/science-tech\/uk-ban-social-media-under-16\/","title":{"rendered":"The end of the TikTok and Instagram era: Britain officially bans social media for teenagers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"news-lead\">The UK has announced a ban on children under the age of 16 using social media, which will come into force in spring 2027. The restrictions will apply to the largest platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, but not messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal. The government plans to introduce a strict age verification system to control access, but this initiative has met with mixed reactions among teenagers, parents and human rights organisations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-summary-box\">\n<div class=\"summary-title\">Briefly about the main points<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Social media will be banned for children under 16 in the UK from spring 2027.<\/li>\n<li>The ban applies to Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, but not to WhatsApp and Signal.<\/li>\n<li>Strict age verification will be introduced, but many adults will not pass the checks.<\/li>\n<li>Some organisations and teenagers have expressed concerns about isolation and the effectiveness of the ban.<\/li>\n<li>The government has taken note of the experience in Australia, where a similar law has been in force since December 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Key provisions of the ban on social media for children<\/h2>\n<p>The UK government has announced that, from spring 2027, users under the age of 16 will be banned from accessing a number of popular social media platforms. The ban applies to <em>Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X<\/em>. <em>The messaging apps WhatsApp and Signal are not subject to the restrictions<\/em>. There are also plans to restrict access to certain features on <em>gaming websites, such as Roblox<\/em> It won\u2019t be banned, but contact with strangers will be restricted.<\/p>\n<h2>How age verification will work<\/h2>\n<p>To ensure compliance with the ban, the government intends to introduce a \u00abhighly effective age verification\u00bb system. This may include verification via credit card, email, and facial recognition technology. However, many adults whose accounts have been open for over 16 years or have been verified by other means will not be subject to re-verification. The regulator Ofcom will be responsible for developing the details.<\/p>\n<h2>The reaction of the public and experts<\/h2>\n<p>Kanishka Narayan, Minister for Artificial Intelligence and Online Safety, stated that the government had taken on board the lessons from Australia, where a similar law has been in force since December 2025, but acknowledges that the ban is not a \u00abmagic bullet\u00bb and requires long-term work.<\/p>\n<p>Teenagers have mixed views: some criticise the ban as excessive and believe that age restrictions should apply to younger children, rather than to teenagers under the age of 16. At the same time, some schoolchildren feel that social media is an important tool for communication and support.<\/p>\n<h2>Concerns raised by human rights organisations<\/h2>\n<p>Organisations that defend the rights of children with disabilities fear that the ban will restrict their access to vital social connections and support. Leaders of such organisations are calling for a balanced approach that combines children\u2019s safety with the preservation of opportunities for self-expression and communication.<\/p>\n<h2>Political assessments and challenges<\/h2>\n<p>Prime Minister <strong>Keir Starmer<\/strong> stressed that children\u2019s safety and well-being are a priority and that the government will not compromise. The leader of the Conservative Party <strong>Kemi Badenoch<\/strong> described the move as \u00abcrucial for the protection of children\u00bb. At the same time, critics point to the risks of the ban being circumvented through <em>VPN<\/em> and concerns about the introduction of digital identification.<\/p>\n<p>There is broad political support for the ban, but experts point to the difficulties involved in implementing it in practice and the potential implications for digital inclusion.<\/p>\n<h2>Lessons learned from Australia\u2019s experience<\/h2>\n<p>The Australian experience shows that banning social media for young people under the age of 16 is difficult to implement in practice, as many teenagers find ways to get round the restrictions. Experts advise focusing on improving digital literacy and changing attitudes towards online safety. It is still too early to assess the effectiveness of the ban, as only six months have passed since its introduction.<\/p>\n<p>The new rules in the UK will serve as a test for the system of child protection in the digital space and could influence the regulation of social media across Europe.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u0412\u0435\u043b\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u0411\u0440\u0438\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0456\u044f \u043e\u0433\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0441\u0438\u043b\u0430 \u043f\u0440\u043e \u0437\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0443 \u043a\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0443\u0432\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0441\u043e\u0446\u0456\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0438\u043c\u0438 \u043c\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0436\u0430\u043c\u0438 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0434\u0456\u0442\u0435\u0439 \u0434\u043e 16 \u0440\u043e\u043a\u0456\u0432, \u044f\u043a\u0430 \u043d\u0430\u0431\u0443\u0434\u0435 \u0447\u0438\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0456 \u043d\u0430\u0432\u0435\u0441\u043d\u0456 2027 \u0440\u043e\u043a\u0443. \u041e\u0431\u043c\u0435\u0436\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0442\u043e\u0440\u043a\u043d\u0443\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0430\u0439\u0431\u0456\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0438\u0445 \u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043c, \u0441\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0434 \u044f\u043a\u0438\u0445 Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook \u0442\u0430 X, \u0430\u043b\u0435 \u043d\u0435 \u043c\u0435\u0441\u0435\u043d\u0434\u0436\u0435\u0440\u0456\u0432 WhatsApp \u0456 Signal. \u0423\u0440\u044f\u0434 \u043f\u043b\u0430\u043d\u0443\u0454 \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0434\u0438\u0442\u0438 \u0441\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0435\u043c\u0443 \u0436\u043e\u0440\u0441\u0442\u043a\u043e\u0457 \u0432\u0435\u0440\u0438\u0444\u0456\u043a\u0430\u0446\u0456\u0457 \u0432\u0456\u043a\u0443, \u0449\u043e\u0431 \u043a\u043e\u043d\u0442\u0440\u043e\u043b\u044e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u0438 \u0434\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0443\u043f, \u0430\u043b\u0435 \u0446\u044f \u0456\u043d\u0456\u0446\u0456\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432\u0430 \u0432\u0438\u043a\u043b\u0438\u043a\u0430\u0454 \u0440\u0456\u0437\u043d\u0456 \u0440\u0435\u0430\u043a\u0446\u0456\u0457 \u0441\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0434 [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207433346,"featured_media":22419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"\u0412\u0435\u043b\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0431\u0440\u0438\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0456\u044f \u0432\u0432\u043e\u0434\u0438\u0442\u044c \u0437\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0443 \u0441\u043e\u0446\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0436 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u043a\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0443\u0432\u0430\u0447\u0456\u0432 \u0434\u043e 16 \u0440\u043e\u043a\u0456\u0432 \u0456\u0437 \u0432\u0435\u0441\u043d\u0438 2027 \u0440\u043e\u043a\u0443, \u043e\u0445\u043e\u043f\u043b\u044e\u044e\u0447\u0438 \u043e\u0441\u043d\u043e\u0432\u043d\u0456 \u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0438, \u043a\u0440\u0456\u043c \u043c\u0435\u0441\u0435\u043d\u0434\u0436\u0435\u0440\u0456\u0432.","rank_math_title":"\u0412\u0435\u043b\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0431\u0440\u0438\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0456\u044f \u0437\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u044f\u0454 \u0441\u043e\u0446\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0436\u0456 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0434\u0456\u0442\u0435\u0439 \u0434\u043e 16 \u0440\u043e\u043a\u0456\u0432","rank_math_focus_keyword":"\u0441\u043e\u0446\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0436\u0456","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[805620],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433346"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22420"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22423,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22420\/revisions\/22423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}