GoKawiilThe UK government will ban under-16s from social media, with regulations due before Christmas and the rules taking effect in spring 2027.
To enforce it, platforms must age-check their users. In practice that means anyone opening a new account will likely have to prove they're over 16 by uploading an ID or passing a facial age scan.
Long-standing accounts are largely exempt, but signing up fresh now triggers verification, effectively ending anonymous account creation in the UK.
Security and privacy experts warn the checks are easy to circumvent, put everyone's ID and biometric data at risk of breaches, and were rushed in with little political scrutiny.
The announcement
Prime Minister Keir Starmer set out the plan on June 15, following a national consultation that drew more than 116,000 responses from parents, children and experts.
The government says nine in ten parents backed an under-16 ban, and two-thirds of young people agreed that under-16s should be kept off at least some platforms.
"That's why we're going further than any country in the world by banning social media for under-16s and putting wider protections in place to give kids their childhood back," Starmer said.
"This is a line in the sand. Tech giants had their chance and failed."
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall framed it as a fight with the platforms: "Tech companies have had countless opportunities to keep children safe, yet they have failed to act. That is why we are taking power away from the tech giants and putting it back in parents' hands."
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