The UK could be one of the next countries to adopt a social media ban for kids and teens, according to recent media reports. 

Unlike Australia (which passed a ban) and France (which is currently drawing up legislation), the UK doesn’t have anything official on its books yet. But it’s looking more and more likely with every passing day.

As soon as next week, the UK government’s House of Lords is reportedly set to vote on a proposal for a ban to keep British kids under the age of 16 off social media, although the House of Commons would still need to pass matching legislation for this ban to take effect. The UK’s Conservatives even made it an election issue, promising they would enact such a ban and stop kids from having smartphones in schools if they beat Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party in the next election. And the BBC has reported that many Labour members of Parliament have also said they expect a ban will be implemented.

“We’re looking at what is happening in Australia,” said Starmer. “All options are on the table in relation to what further protections we can put in place, whether that’s under-16s on social media or—an issue I am very concerned about—under-fives and screen time.” 

More than half of all adults in the UK (51%) are on side with a ban, according to December data from kidtech firm Privately, which surveyed 2,000 people.  

This topic has been top of mind for the UK government (and for kids & families) for several months, thanks in part to the smash-hit success of Netflix’s Adolescence, a live-action UK miniseries about the dangers of social media for tweens and teens that launched in March. Starmer praised the series and welcomed Netflix’s move to make it available to stream for free in all UK secondary schools. Adolescence became the platform’s second-most-popular English-language series just three months after launch, and it swept the Golden Globes earlier this month. 

With Australia taking an early lead on banning under-16s from social media in November, other countries now have a blueprint they can follow. This first ban is working, according to Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who recently claimed that many social media accounts owned by Aussie kids have been closed since its implementation. 

Several other countries, and the EU as a whole, are at different stages of exploring bans of their own, including New Zealand, Malaysia and Brazil. 

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash.