The United Kingdom is set to follow the example of Australia and Indonesia by banning teenagers from social networks.

This means children will no longer be allowed to access platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said platforms like Instagram and TikTok make youngsters “unhappy.”

Children under the age of 16 will be banned from using social media in the UK  from early next year, the British government announced on Monday.

Starmer said that popular social media platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, and others were “designed to be addictive,” making them “dangerous” and making youngsters “unhappy.”

The ban, which Starmer hopes will be passed into law by December and come into force early in 2027, follows similar initiatives launched in Australia, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia.  

“Every parent can see it with their own eyes: social media is making children unhappy,” said Starmer, who himself has two teenage children. “I’ve heard first-hand from families crying out for change, and we will do right by them.”

The move, which won’t include messaging apps such as WhatsApp, but it could trigger a major fight with  US Tech Giants, who argue that blanket social media bans risk forcing children into even less regulated spaces.

The proposed social media ban will affect “user-to-user platforms, whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material, alongside algorithms,” said the UK government in a statement Monday.

The UK is planning to go further than Australia’s ban, with “world-leading blocks on harmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s,” which will also apply to other online services such as gaming sites, added the government.

Source: CNN & DW