On Monday (June 15), British prime minister Keir Starmer set out the Labour government’s plans to roll out strict age verification rules across social media, in response to his party’s concerns about young people’s online safety and overall well-being.
If passed in parliament, the proposed ban is expected to come into force across the U.K. by spring 2027, and will restrict under-16s from accessing platforms where users can post material and interact with algorithms, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Discord, Facebook, X and streaming platform Twitch. Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal will be made exempt.
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Apple and Google will be required to carry out age checks on children using smartphones, which typically work by either using AI to estimate a user’s age from a selfie, or by having users submit their bank details or physical ID. This is an extension of existing technology that came into use through the Online Safety Act 2023, which requires websites hosting adult content to check and verify its users’ age.
“Today is a big moment for our country. This is a big step, a real change for our children and our future,” Starmer said in a Downing Street press briefing. “Social media is making children unhappy. It’s making it easier for bullies to harass and abuse them, and it could even be harming their mental health, exposing them to content that is dangerous because that’s what grabs the attention.”
