Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday that the UK will ban youth under 16 from using a range of social media apps, to protect them from harmful content and excessive screen time.

The government expects the rules to take effect in spring 2027. They would cover user-to-user platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, while leaving out private messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal. YouTube Kids would also be exempt, according to the Associated Press. Starmer has emphasized that enforcement would fall on the platforms rather than on young users. Companies that fail to take reasonable steps to keep under-16s off their services could face fines running into the millions of pounds.

Starmer said the UK plans to follow the similar model to Australia, which became the first country to ban children under 16 from having a social media account. However, Starmer stated that the UK is 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.”

In its response to the UK’s “Growing up in the online world” consultation, submitted on June 5, the US government urged Britain to favor narrowly targeted rules over broad social media bans, cautioning that sweeping restrictions could undermine free speech. The response also warned that such measures could impose disproportionate compliance burdens on American technology companies and disadvantage them relative to foreign competitors.