UK and Australia Strengthen Social Media Bans for Minors

The United Kingdom and Australia are taking aggressive legislative action to restrict social media access for children under 16. In June 2026, Keir Starmer announced the Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, which will implement a UK-wide ban in Spring 2027. This legislation prohibits under-16s from platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and X, though it exempts messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal. The move has faced opposition from the Scottish Youth Parliament, which argues that the ban punishes youth rather than holding tech giants accountable.

Australia, which implemented a world-first ban in December 2025, is now attempting to strengthen its enforcement. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans to stress-test the laws to withstand legal challenges from platforms like Reddit and the Digital Freedom Project. This pivot follows a British Medical Journal study revealing that 85% of 12- to 15-year-olds continued using restricted platforms by bypassing age verification.

To address these failures, the Australian government is consulting on digital duty of care legislation to hold platforms accountable for algorithmic harms. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has considered court action against Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, with systemic violators facing fines up to AUD$49.5 million. Simultaneously, Australia has forced seven AI-powered nudifying apps to withdraw from the market or implement age verification. These combined efforts have led digital rights groups in New Zealand to urge their own policymakers to reject similar blanket bans, citing the Australian experience as evidence of policy failure.