UK social media ban will fail like it did in Australia: Big Brother Watch
Key Points
- Digital rights advocacy group Big Brother Watch has condemned the plan to ban under-16s in the UK from using social media.
- Big Brother Watch argues that the ban did not work in Australia, and it will not work in the UK.
- It also highlights the risk of centralised tech platforms harvesting and storing user data, considering their vulnerability to leaks and hacks.
- The planned social media ban has also been criticised for requiring adults to provide a form of 'digital ID' to prove their age and access social media platforms.
The UK’s plan to ban social media for under-16s is doomed to fail, according to digital rights advocacy group Big Brother Watch.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday 15 June that the government would ban children under the age of 16 from accessing selected social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, X, and Kick.
Legislation to enable the ban is expected to be in place before the end of the year, with the ban taking effect from Spring 2027.
The ban follows a similar mechanism implemented by Australia, which Big Brother Watch said has shown this approach to be the wrong one.
“Politicians and tech companies have let children down for too long. But in a headlong rush to make up for lost time, the government is going down the wrong path,” said Big Brother Watch Head of Advocacy Jack Coulson.
“Big Brother Watch would welcome evidence-led policies that offer real protection for young people.”
“Instead, the government is mimicking much of Australia’s failed policy. A policy their own eSafety Commissioner admits has failed to keep children off social media,” he said.
There are several ways for children to circumvent these measures, including through the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), which are often free and allow users to change the location in which they appear to online platforms, while also protecting their traffic from inspection by third parties.
Digital ID checkpoints and data leaks
Coulson noted that while the effectiveness of this approach was questionable, a larger problem is the trust it places in tech companies and centralised parties with serious track records of leaks and hacks.
“The British people have always, rightly, rejected mandatory ID schemes. Now the government is imposing digital ID checkpoints for the internet,” he said.
“This is not like Challenge 25 for alcohol. We will all face a ‘papers, please’ demand to get online.”
He said that targeted interventions are needed which hold platforms to account and give parents the tools they need to police what their children see online.
Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has already responded to the government’s directive, saying that it is working to quickly lay the groundwork for implementing this social media ban.
“So far, Ofcom has driven some of the strongest changes of any online safety regulation in the world, from widespread age checks to grooming protections for children,” a spokesperson said.
“But the industry needs to go much further to make people safe.”
“The Government has entrusted us to build on this progress with new measures to protect children, and we’re ready to work closely with them as the detailed regulations take shape.”
In a letter sent to the Technology Secretary, Ofcom chief executive Melanie Dawes said she would work to ensure these age assurance checks for children under 16 would be implemented quickly while remaining robust and effective.
