UK bans social media ban for under-16s — all the latest news live and what it means for Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and more

15 Jun 2026, 08:42 by https://www.techradar.com/uk/author/mark-wilson · TechRadar

UK bans social media ban for under-16s — all the latest news live and what it means for Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and more

PM Keir Starmer vows "to give kids their childhood back"

News By Mark Wilson last updated 15 June 2026

(Image credit: © Getty Images)

The UK has become the latest country to ban social media for under-16s, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer announcing today that "children will be given back their childhoods thanks to government action".

Following Australia's decision to lock teens out of popular social media apps in December 2025, the UK has promised "world-leading additional restrictions" on features like live streaming and strangers communicating with children.

The landmark legislation, which the UK government says is "backed by 9 in 10 parents", is expected to be brought before Parliament before Christmas, and could then come into force in Spring 2027.

So how exactly will the social media ban work, and what does it mean for children in the UK? You can follow all of the latest updates here live...

Refresh Get notified of updates 2026-06-15T08:48:34.375Z

Which platforms are affected?

(Image credit: Ka Han / Shutterstock)

The UK government's statement lists some of the major platforms that will be affected by its proposed ban. These are

Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook
X

The UK government says that "we do not intend for messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal to be included in the social media ban".

However, there are also planned restrictions for "so-called AI ‘romantic companion’ chatbots – designed to simulate sexual relationships or roleplay with users", which will "have to enforce a minimum age of 18".

The statement adds that "similar intimate functionalities will be restricted for under-18s on AI chatbots more widely".

UK social media ban — a quick primer

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Hello, and welcome to our liveblog on the UK's landmark social media ban for under-16s.

We'll be rounding up all of the latest news, reactions and more here today, but first a quick primer on what's happened.

The UK announced the social media ban for under-16s this morning. The statement says that social media is "designed to be addictive" and that the restrictions will give mean "less time for scrolling and more time for play".

The government says it will "use the same model for a social media ban as Australia" and that means the platforms will include Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. It won't include private messaging apps likes of WhatsApp and Signal.

If it's passed by Parliament later this year, the ban is expected to come into force from Spring 2027.

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