Support for UK’s under-16 social media ban falls with digital ID requirement
Key Points
- 69% of British adults support a law banning under-16s from social media, per Ipsos polling conducted 19–22 June 2026.
- Support fell to 50% if all UK users had to upload an ID or credit card to verify their age.
- Support dropped to 48% if the law required a total ban on VPNs in the UK.
- Support rose to 80% if the law prevented under-18s from using AI romantic or roleplay chatbots.
- 96% said parents bear responsibility for protecting under-16s online, with 92% saying the same of social media companies.
Over two-thirds (69%) of British adults support a law requiring social media companies to use age-verification tools to ban under-16s from their platforms, but support drops to 50% if it means everyone in the UK must upload an ID or credit card to prove their age, new Ipsos polling shows.
The survey of 1,082 British adults aged 18–75, conducted online between 19 and 22 June, found that support for a ban remained broadly stable since January 2026, down three percentage points.
It also found that 61% of adults supported a social media curfew or hour restrictions for 16- and 17-year-olds. Support for a ban was high across age groups, with 67% of 18–34-year-olds backing the measure, rising to 75% among those aged 55–75.
However, support weakened when respondents were asked to consider the wider implications of enforcing age verification.
The 50% support figure for mandatory ID or credit card uploads held regardless of whether the verification data would be stored by individual social media platforms (50%) or by device owners such as Apple or Google (51%).
Support fell further, to 48%, if the law required a total ban on virtual private networks (VPNs) in the UK to prevent circumvention.
By comparison, support increased to 80% if the law prevented under-18s from engaging with AI “romantic” or roleplay chatbots, and 72% supported it if it stopped under-17s from livestreaming or chatting with strangers on platforms such as Roblox.
The polling follows the passage of the Social Media (Minimum Age) Act, which received royal assent in June 2026 and mandates that platforms ban users under 16 or face fines of up to 10% of global annual revenue, with the ban due to take effect from early 2027.
Most expect a positive impact
Nearly three in four adults (74%) said an under-16 ban would have a positive impact on reducing children’s screen usage, with the same share expecting it to limit children’s exposure to online harms.
Just under half (46%) expected the law to positively affect their ability to keep their own private data secure, while 18% expected a negative impact in this area.
Respondents were less certain about other effects, with 43% expecting the ban to have no impact on children’s digital literacy and 40% expecting no impact on their awareness of world news and current events. A third (33%) expected a positive impact on each.
The public placed the greatest responsibility for protecting under-16s from harmful content on parents (96%) and social media companies (92%), followed by adult social media users (85%), the UK Government (84%), and Ofcom (84%).
Ipsos UK Research Director Alex Bogdan said the data underscored a strong societal consensus that protecting young people from online harm was a collective duty, with parents and social media companies expected to lead the charge.
“The key challenge for Westminster and regulatory bodies moving forward will be less about convincing the public of the ban’s intent, but rather to ease concerns about how the age-verification infrastructure will impact the wider public in order to maintain support and momentum,” Bogdan said.
