UK mulls Australia-style ban on social media for children

The United Kingdom (UK) is considering a range of measures to better protect children online, including an Australian-style ban on social media for those below a certain age and tougher guidance for use of mobile phones in schools, it said on Monday.

The government said it would examine evidence from around the world on a wide range of suggested proposals, including looking at whether a social media ban for children would be effective and, if one was introduced, how best to make it work.

Ministers will visit Australia, which last month became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, to learn from their approach, the statement said.

The government did not mention a particular age limit, but said it was exploring a ban “for children under a certain age”, in addition to other measures, such as better age checks and looking into whether the current digital age of consent was too low.

The proposals come as governments and regulators worldwide contend with the risks of exposing children to social media, as well as the impact of screen time on their development and mental health.

The recent rapid explosion of AI-generated content online has exacerbated those concerns, highlighted this month by a public outcry over reports of Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot generating non-consensual sexual images, including of minors.

The British government has already set out plans for an outright ban on artificial intelligence nudification tools, while working to stop children being able to take, share or view nude images on their devices, it said in Monday’s statement.

The government said it was also considering removing or limiting functionalities that could drive addictive or compulsive use of social media, such as infinite scrolling.

Britain’s recently enforced Online Safety Act, one of the strictest safety regimes, has increased the share of children encountering age checks online to 47% from 30%, while cutting visits to pornography sites by a third, according to the government.

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Besant on Monday said Europe should not retaliate against any measure.

“These laws were never meant to be the end point, and we know parents still have serious concerns,” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said. “That is why I am prepared to take further action.”