Is the prime minister about to ban social media for under-16s?

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]These bereaved families have come to Downing Street to show the human cost of social media.

[00:00:06]Making the case to the Prime Minister for tougher restrictions on young people's access.

[00:00:13]He said to us it would be a a case of weeks that we hear something rather than months.

[00:00:17]Um so fingers crossed we're not waiting.

[00:00:20]We also said to the Prime Minister that we want robust action and that takes courage and we asked him to have the political courage and the political leadership to stand up to big tech today. These tech companies are hugely powerful.

[00:00:32]Are you confident from what you've heard today that the Prime Minister's got what it takes to take them on?

[00:00:37]Well, this is the thing. We want him.

[00:00:39]He's the first Prime Minister to have all the bereaved families sitting around that table. Government have a duty of care to look after their citizens and obviously the children. So I think they really do need to step up and be really strong, really assertive, and make sure that that happens and not be scared by big tech companies. The Prime Minister was visiting a nursery in Sussex today. Keir Starmer says when these children reach their teenage years, their ability to use social media won't be the same. I'll be really clear.

[00:01:09]The question now is not whether we do something. We are going to act. I'm absolutely clear that this needs to be something where there's a game changer.

[00:01:17]The pressure to act is growing as a group of senior doctors say social media is as bad for children as smoking. The addictive algorithms cause severe harm.

[00:01:28]This can be seen as children accessing extreme violence or pornography, but also not undertaking physical activity, not getting out, not socializing and learning to play, and learning to be with other people. Those severe harms are happening now.

[00:01:44]We don't yet know what action the government might take, but as well as seeking views on an outright social media ban for under 16s, its consultation also asked about whether platforms should be required to switch off addictive features like infinite scrolling, mandatory overnight curfews, and how age verification should be strengthened.

[00:02:06]The former health secretary Wes Streeting, who quit cabinet less than 2 weeks ago, says Keir Starmer has been too slow to act. It's certainly fair to say the Prime Minister has needed persuading on this issue. Uh I think it's important in politics that we are able to debate. And I think one of the weaknesses of the government's position has been an unwillingness to confront powerful vested interests in Big Tech.

[00:02:31]In December, Australia became the first country in the world to ban under 16s from social media. The impact is still unclear, but tougher restrictions here in the UK could be announced within weeks.

[00:02:47]And Harry is here to talk about all this. I mean, let's face it, the social media bosses are not the world's most popular people, but clearly a lot of people do want to see action, but as you've said, it's complicated. What is the Prime Minister going to do, do you think? Well, it's still not clear, and it's not clear whether the government will go ahead with an outright ban on social media for under 16s, like we've seen in Australia.

[00:03:11]And to be clear, the results of that are mixed, depending on who you speak to.

[00:03:14]There's lots of evidence to suggest that young people in Australia have found workarounds to that ban. There is a government minister in Australia at the moment trying to learn some lessons from that ahead of any decision about what proposals we might see in the UK. And it's also worth saying those bereaved families who were in Downing Street today, some of those families think an outright ban on social media for under under 16s is not the best proposal. Uh tech companies, they make the argument that there should be a regulation of features rather than a regulation of platforms uh as a whole. Um on this issue as a whole, though, there's been a big political shift in the last 12 months or so. The Conservative Party in opposition, they say they want to see an outright ban on social media for under-16s. We are hearing more and more Labour MPs making the case, and you heard Wes Streeting in my report there, former Health Secretary, saying that he thinks the Prime Minister has been holding some of them back. And actually, he thinks the government has been reluctant to have that fight with big tech companies. Now, Keir Starmer certainly sounded a lot more confident today in the arguments that he was making. Liz Kendall, the Science and Technology Secretary, she says we'll get these proposals by the summer, and she says if legislation is required, that will come into force by the end of the year.