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UK Steps Up Pressure on Social Media Platforms Over Children’s Online Safety

By  |  April 16, 2026

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took senior figures from Meta, TikTok, Google, Snapchat and X to the woodshed Thursday over weak online safety protections for minors, warning the social media companies that “things can’t go on like this.”  The PM summoned the company representatives to a meeting at No. 10 where he demanded “real world changes” from the companies to make their platforms safer for children.

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    The meeting came as Starmer’s government is conducting a public consultation on setting a hard social media age limit, as well as other restrictions on social media apps such as banning infinite scrolling.

    According to The Guardian, the comments appear to represent something of a turnaround for Starmer. The Labour leader had previously been skeptical of the idea of a social media ban, the outlet noted, worrying that it could push young people on to the dark web and leave teenagers ill-equipped to use technology wisely once they turned 16.

    Pressure to consider age limits has grown, however, in the wake of Australia’s enactment of a social media ban for children under 16, along with recent high-profile cases of harms suffered by children allegedly as a result of social media use. Earlier this year, 60 MPs of Starmer’s own Labour party wrote to the prime minister urging him to support an under-16 social media ban.

    “Across our constituencies, we hear the same message: children are anxious, unhappy, and unable to focus on learning. They are not building the social skills needed to thrive, nor having the experiences that will prepare them for adulthood,” the letter said. “Around the world, governments are recognising the severity of this crisis and taking action.”

    On Wednesday, MPs nonetheless voted down an under-16 ban passed in the House of Lords. Many Labour MPs who voted against the measure, however, said they want to wait to see the government’s response to the consultation before taking any action, the Guardian noted.

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    That sentiment was reinforced in comments by Olivia Bailey, the government’s early education minister, representing the government in the Commons on Wednesday.

    “Instead of the narrow amendment proposed in the House of Lords, our consultation allows us to address a much wider range of services and features,” she said. “It also allows us to consider the different views about the way to move forward, and that’s why it’s crucial that we do not pre-empt the government’s consultation.”

    In addition to the consultation, the government has also put pressure on Ofcom, the U.K.’s main communications regulator, which is responsible for enforcing the Online Safety Act, per the Guardian. Last year, technology secretary, Liz Kendall, told the watchdog it was at risk of losing public trust if it failed to use its powers to tackle online harms.

    This month, Kendall appointed a new Ofcom chair, Ian Cheshire, a former Channel 4 chair, with a mandate to scrutinize social media platforms more rigorously.

    “I am determined we will build a better future for our children, and look forward to working with you on this,” Starmer told the platform representatives Thursday. “I do think this can be done. I think the question is not whether it is done, the question is how it is done.”