New Delhi: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a ban on social media for minor children under 16 years. On X, Starmer announced this ban as a way of keeping children safe online. The ban will cover platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. The government plans to impose a full ban by Spring 2027.
The ban is not exclusive to the UK; there are other nations that have plans to impose a ban on social media for minors under the age of 16. There is a list of nations that have imposed social media bans for adolescents or are considering regulations.
Australia
Australia was the first nation to impose a social media ban for under-16 minors to protect their health and well-being. The social media ban in Australia was led by the leftist Labour Party.
The ban included platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, etc. The government ensured that, instead of punishing children and parents for breach, social media companies would be held responsible. However, after the ban was imposed, thousands moved to lookalike social apps such as Lemon8, Yope, and Coverstar, and the use of VPN’s also increased after the ban.
Indonesia
In March, Indonesia announced a social media ban for children under the age of 16, following Australia’s lead in its effort to protect young people from potential online harm.
The government announced that it was taking action to protect children from online pornography, scams, and addiction. It announced that children will be banned from social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and Bigo Live. Other sources such as OnlyFans, Pornhub and Grok have also been banned.
Spain
In February, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that the government plans to ban social media for children under 16. The ban still needs parliamentary approval and is still in the works, as it needs to make companies responsible for their content. The proposal would also look into the digital platform’s role in fueling hate and division.
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Denmark
In 2025, the Danish government, though, did not impose a blanket ban but implemented a minimum age requirement of 15 years old on certain social media platforms. The agreement concerning restrictions allocates 160 million Danish kroner to plan initiatives strengthening the protection of children online.
Turkey
Turkey’s parliament passed legislation banning the use of social media under the age of 15 and also introduced new rules for digital platforms, including gaming platforms. The bill was pushed forward by President Tayyip Erdogan from the AK Party. Similar to Australia, social ban in Turkey also places the penalty on the social media companies up to 3 per cent of the company’s global revenue.
In the UK, the ban on social media has been under discussion for a long time. The government had repeatedly cited the safety of minor children and health issues to impose the ban.
The ban has been imposed after public consultation, where the government has received more than 1,16,000 responses.
The government has not released a complete list, but it also intends to restrict livestream features. Additionally, the ban would also target the AI chatbot features, imposing a minimum age limit of 18 on the same.
Amrin Rajpal is a TPSJ alum currently interning with ThePrint.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)