The UK government plans to ban under-16s from TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, BBC News reported on 14 June 2026.

At the moment, social media companies have rules they must follow to protect young people from harm — like removing bullying or spotting grooming. The government now wants to go further by stopping under-16s from using these platforms altogether.

The numbers show why this matters. More than six in ten teenagers aged 13 to 17 in the UK use TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram. A ban would change how millions of young people connect online.

Why now?

This move is part of a bigger plan to support young people. Since July 2025, the government has opened Young Futures Hubs in areas with high crime rates. These centres offer help to vulnerable teenagers. In April 2026, more hubs opened to fill a gap left by the decline in youth services.

The government also published a 10-year youth plan in December 2025. It aims to give 500,000 more young people access to a trusted adult outside school and home, and teach them important life skills. Online safety is part of this wider plan to look after teenagers.

The tricky bits

Banning under-16s sounds simple, but it's technically complicated. The platforms would need to check users' ages — either through government ID, verification the platforms do themselves, or a combination of both. This creates privacy concerns. Australia introduced a similar ban in late 2024 and discovered these same problems.

The government has not yet written the actual law. No timeline has been set. For now, the Prime Minister has said it intends to do this, but that still needs to go through Parliament and face questions from the platforms themselves.

What is clear is that the government is serious about tackling children's online safety. It has created more rules and support than any previous government. Whether it can make them all work together is another question.