‘The genie is out of the bottle’: parents react to UK under-16s social media ban

Some feel it is a concrete step to protect children, but others argue it is ‘trying to fix the symptoms and not the disease’

The UK government has announced a social media ban for under-16s , which it says is expected to come into force next spring.

Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X and Facebook will all be blocked . It will also ban under-16 access for “user-to-user platforms” that enable social interaction between users and allow them to post material.

Keir Starmer said the changes were a “line in the sand” for tech companies that had failed to keep children safe.

We asked parents and carers what their thoughts were on the ban. Here are some of their responses.

I feel relief. My sons (aged 12 and 10) are just getting to the age where this was going to be entering their lives via friends (whether we liked it or not). We have worked so hard as a family to try to protect them from the online world and the harm it can bring, whilst educating them that it is a very useful tool if used appropriately. It has taken us hours, possibly days overall, to set up any device our sons have access to in as safe a way as possible (and even then, they and the settings need regular monitoring).

It has also felt like, until very recently, you were the only parent brave enough to say no, that the pervasive social norm is to just hand them a phone at age 11 and hope for the best. It is such a relief that the social norm is shifting, the harms these digital products do to our children are being dragged out into the light and their manufacturers see that parents will not tolerate it any more.

There must be accountability and adaptation of these products as a result of this ban. Shona, 46, former teacher, Leeds