The Memo: Social media ban for under 16's - will it happen in the UK?

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Social media ban for under 16's – will it happen in the UK?

Madeleine Clarke - 09 February 2026

The House of Lords has voted in favour of a social media ban for under 16s. The amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill was backed by the Conservative, and Liberal Democrats and passed by 261 votes to 150 votes. The proposed amendment would give the government a year to decide which social media platforms would be unavailable to under 16s. Companies would need to implement age checks to ensure children cannot access their platforms.

But this doesn’t mean a social media ban is certain to happen. For a new law to pass, it must be approved by a majority vote in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Labour government has suggested it will try to overturn this amendment in the House of Commons. The government is also holding its own consultation on the ban, so some kind of restrictions may still happen, even if not under the bill approved by the House of Lords.

On 10 December, Australia’s world-first ban on social media for under 16s came into force. Australia’s policy could act as a model for the UK and other countries which are considering similar policies. Down under, companies that fail to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent children from holding accounts on their services could face fines of up to $49.5 million (AUD). Parents and children won’t face fines.

Major social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok are affected by the ban but certain others like Discord, WhatsApp and YouTube, are exempt for now.

To be affected, social media platforms must meet the following conditions:

  1. The platform’s sole or significant purpose is to enable online social interaction between two or more users;
  2. It allows users to link or interact with other users;
  3. It allows users to post material; and
  4. Material is accessible or delivered to users in Australia.

Children’s existing accounts were deactivated on the date the ban came into force. Companies must implement age checks to ensure users are of age following the ban.

Australia’s legislation provides several options for carrying out age checks, such as government IDs, face or voice recognition and ‘age inference’ – an analysis of online behaviour to estimate someone’s age.