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The U.K. is the latest country to impose a social media ban for all children under 16. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the ban will also restrict gaming services and livestreaming. The British government says the online restrictions will be among the most far reaching in the world. NPR's Fatima Al-Kassab reports from London.
FATIMA AL-KASSAB, BYLINE: Giving children their childhoods back. That's how British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described his sweeping social media ban for under 16s. In a televised statement from 10 Downing Street, he called it a big moment for our country.
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PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER: Because today, I can announce that the government will ban access to social media for all children under the age of 16.
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AL-KASSAB: Starmer said he hadn't taken the decision lightly, but that it was the right choice because he said social media makes children unhappy and unsafe.
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STARMER: I am not prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children, and that is why this ban must happen, and that is why this ban will happen.
AL-KASSAB: The government says the ban will include platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, although not messaging platforms like WhatsApp. Britain's Technology Minister Liz Kendall outlined the plans in Parliament where she explained how the U.K.'s ban will go further than other countries.
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LIZ KENDALL: Because it can open the door to vile child abuse, we will ban livestreaming for under 16s across all platforms.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Here, here.
KENDALL: And we will ban communication with strangers, including in gaming to stop pedophiles meeting and grooming children.
AL-KASSAB: She said Britain's ban is modeled on Australia's, which last year became the first country to ban under 16s from having social media accounts. A growing number of countries around the world - including Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia - are restricting social media use for children. And there had been increasing pressure on the British government to follow suit. A recent government survey showed that 9 in 10 parents in the U.K. support a ban, but not everyone is happy about it. Some young people worry about what such a blanket ban will mean for their lives, like 15-year-old Lila (ph), who phoned into BBC Radio and gave just her first name.
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LILA: Social media is really a massive, massive part of young people's lives. It's a sense of community. It gives support for mental health. It's a place to communicate, And to just take that away would be horrible, horrible.
AL-KASSAB: Tech platforms like YouTube and Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, have said the ban will only drive children to less safe services. There are questions about how effective it will be, too. Professor Amy Orben from Cambridge University, who advised the U.K. government on the ban, says this reflects the government's limited ability to rein in social media companies.
AMY ORBEN: What it shows is that we currently don't trust that we can make social media safe in the short term, that we rather keep a whole certain age group that we see as the most vulnerable off it completely. And I think that's a sad state of affairs.
AL-KASSAB: Orben also sat on the committee, which tracked the effects of the ban in Australia. She says six months after the ban took effect there, many young people can still access their accounts. But she says these restrictions are an important first step and part of a larger cultural change.
Fatima Al-Kassab, NPR News, London. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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