Social media is awful but the UK under-16 ban won't solve anything: 'Instead of punishing children, the government needs to target the sourc

**TL;DR:** Social media is awful but the UK under-16 ban won't solve anything: 'Instead of punishing children, the government needs to target the source'

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Following in the footsteps of our friends in Australia, the British government is getting ready to ban under-16s from accessing social media—specifically Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X and Facebook. The ban is expected to be enforced by spring 2027. "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," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said during the announcement of the ban.

As extremely online former teenagers ourselves, some of whom are now parents, we've got some thoughts on the ban. Fraser Brown, Online Editor (Image credit: Getty Images) I stopped using social media several years ago. I kicked Facebook to the curb after the Cambridge Analytica scandal , and I got out of Twitter when it refused to take action against Trump's deployment of misinformation and fascist propaganda, before it was purchased by Musk. I will occasionally use Linkedin and YouTube for work, but that's it.

Kids aren't to blame for the tragic state of affairs the country now finds itself in. Fraser Brown Social media is a curse. Rather than being a tool for sharing information and uniting disparate people

Source: PC Gamer

Platform and internet stories are really incentive stories — who gets reach, revenue, and enforcement when rules change.

The immediate headline is only the entry point. The more useful question is who gains leverage, who faces new risk, and whether the change is durable or experimental.

Watch for primary-source confirmation, changelog entries, and whether vendors publish remediation or rollout timelines.

1) If money or security is involved, wait for primary sources. 2) Test changes on a small scale before committing. 3) Note what would falsify your current assumptions.

**Q: Is everything in this article confirmed?** A: The summary reflects publicly reported information at publication time. Analysis sections are clearly framed as context, not new reporting.

**Q: Will iByte update this page?** A: Yes. As primary sources publish more detail, this article can be refreshed without changing the URL.

Last updated: June 16, 2026.

Additional context: early-cycle stories often look bigger in headlines than in day-to-day impact. The useful move is to identify the smallest set of facts that would change your decision, then wait for those facts to land.