Britain could ban social media for children under 16 as early as this year and close a loophole that left AI chatbots outside safety rules, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government moves to fast-track protections following the explosive rise of platforms like Elon Musk’s Grok.
The government last month launched a consultation on an Australian-style ban for under-16s. Now, officials are working to change legislation so they can implement any new rules within months of the consultation concluding—rather than waiting years for full parliamentary approval.
Technology Minister Liz Kendall told the BBC the government would set out its proposals before June.
The Grok Wake-Up Call
The push has intensified after Musk’s flagship AI chatbot Grok was found to be generating nonconsensual sexualised images, exposing a gap in Britain’s 2023 Online Safety Act. The landmark law is one of the world’s strictest safety regimes, but it does not cover one-to-one interactions with AI chatbots unless they share information with other users.
“I am concerned about these AI chatbots… as is the prime minister, about the impact that’s having on children and young people,” Kendall told Times Radio. She said some children were forming one-to-one relationships with AI systems that were not designed with child safety in mind.
That loophole, Kendall said, would soon be closed. Britain cannot afford regulatory gaps after the Online Safety Act took nearly eight years to pass and come into force.
What’s Being Proposed
The government’s child safety push includes:
· Under-16 social media ban: Following Australia’s lead, Britain could become the second country to block children under 16 from accessing platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
· AI chatbot regulation: One-to-one interactions with AI systems will be brought under the Online Safety Act, requiring platforms to ensure their chatbots comply with British law.
· Data-preservation orders: When a child dies, investigators would gain automatic powers to secure key online evidence—a measure long sought by bereaved families.
· Curbing “stranger pairing”: New rules would restrict gaming consoles’ ability to connect children with unknown adults.
· Nude image blocking: Platforms would be required to block the sending or receiving of intimate images involving minors.
· VPN restrictions: The government is considering limiting minors’ access to virtual private networks, which are currently used to bypass age checks and geographic blocks.
The new measures will be introduced as amendments to existing crime and child-protection legislation being considered by parliament.
The Challenges
While aimed at shielding children, such measures often have knock-on implications for adults’ privacy and ability to access services. They have also led to tension with the US over limits on free speech and regulatory reach.
Some major pornography sites have already blocked British users rather than carry out age checks. But those blocks can be circumvented using readily available VPNs—a loophole the government is now considering closing for minors.
Kendall acknowledged that even among safety advocates, there is disagreement. Some child-protection groups worry a blanket ban could push harmful activity into less regulated spaces or create a sharp “cliff edge” at 16, leaving newly eligible teenagers suddenly exposed to platforms they have never been taught to navigate safely.
The Definition Problem
Before any ban can take effect, the government must first define what counts as social media. The legal definition will determine which platforms are affected—and which might escape regulation by arguing they are something else entirely.
Kendall said work on that definition is underway.
What Comes Next
The consultation launched in January runs through early spring. The government aims to publish its proposals before June, with changes implemented within months after that—a timeline that would make a ban possible before the end of 2026.
Tech firms, Kendall said, will be responsible for ensuring their systems comply with British law. “No platform gets a free pass,” she has said.
For Starmer, who has spoken publicly about the challenges of raising teenagers in the age of social media, this is personal as well as political. His government is betting that parents across Britain share his concern—and that fast action now can prevent harm that years of slower regulation could not.
