Social media limits and other online limits for children are being planned by the government to tackle compulsive screen time, says Technology Secretary Peter Kyle.
Speaking to Sky News, Kyle said a two-hour cap per platform is being seriously considered after meetings with current and former employees of tech companies. A night-time or school-time curfew has also been discussed.
Children would be blocked from accessing apps such as TikTok or Snapchat once they have hit the limit, rather than just reminded of how long they have been scrolling, it is understood. An announcement is expected in the coming months.
“I’ll be making an announcement on these things in the near future. But I am looking very carefully at the overall time kids spend on these apps. I think some parents feel a bit disempowered about how to actually make their kids healthier online,” he said.
Stronger online rules
The announcement comes as new online rules around adult content come into effect in the UK.
As of 25 July 2025, all sites and apps that allow adult content will need to have strong age checks in place, to make sure children can’t access that or other harmful content.
This is a significant change to how adults in the UK access adult content, and is a key step in helping to protect children from harmful content when they’re online, regulator Ofcom said in an accompanying statement.
The rules are being introduced under the Online Safety Act. Ofcom is the UK’s regulator for online safety, and keeping children safe when they’re online is a key priority for the group.
“Until now, it’s been too easy for children to see harmful content, including adult content, online. New research from Ofcom has found that 8% of children aged 8-14 in the UK visited an online adult site or app in a month – including around 3% of 8–9-year-olds – the youngest children in the study,” the group said.
“As the regulator, we won’t be assessing individual pieces of content, or telling online services to remove legal material. Our role is not to stop adults from accessing legal adult content, but from 25 July, stronger checks will be needed and crucially, just ticking a box to say you’re over 18 will no longer be enough.”
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