LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) – Britain is seeking input from parents and children on whether to ban under-16s from using social media and possible restrictions on gaming platforms and artificial intelligence chatbots.
As governments around the world work to limit the impact of social media and gaming on children’s mental health and sleep, parents are feeling outpaced by platforms designed to maximize the time young users spend online.
Australia enacted a social media ban targeting under-16s in December, and other governments, including the United Kingdom, are considering similar moves.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he wants to introduce new powers to protect children, beyond those in the two-and-a-half-year-old Cyber Safety Bill.
The three-month consultation, which starts on Monday, will consider a range of measures, from a possible minimum age for social media to a ban on addictive design features and an overnight curfew for under-16s.
Real-world pilots and new powers
“We know parents around the world are grappling with how much screen time their children should have, when they should be given a phone, what they see online and the impact all of this has,” Technology Minister Liz Kendall said in a statement.
“That’s why we’re asking children and parents to take part in this landmark consultation to discuss how young people can thrive in an era of rapid technological change.”
The government said it would conduct a pilot with families and teenagers to examine how potential social media restrictions would work in practice.
It will also examine whether children should be able to interact with AI chatbots without restrictions and how age verification rules can be strengthened.
Britain is separately enacting stricter rules that would require tech companies to remove non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours or face fines of up to 10% of global revenue.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti Editing by Paul Sandle and Peter Graff)
