UK to ban social media for under-16s

The UK announced a social-media ban for under-16s, a move that follows other countries but clashes with the government’s other priorities.

The ban will include Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms as well as YouTube but not messaging apps like WhatsApp. The move is popular, with polls finding 74% support, although the evidence for both the mental health impacts of social media and the efficacy of bans is disputed.

But the British government is also passing legislation allowing 16-year-olds to vote. “You… ultimately have to decide whether 16-year-olds are sovereign adults,” a Financial Times columnist wrote, and either they should have access to the same information environment as other voters or “you need to move away from votes at 16.”