The UK is planning a social media curfew for 16-17 year olds

UK It will require Social media The country’s Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology revealed on Tuesday evening that the companies will implement a virtual ban on teenage users aged 16-17 at certain hours.

In theory, this new automatic curfew will prevent older teens from accessing social media platforms between the hours of midnight and 6am – although this feature can be turned off. The non-mandatory restriction will be imposed along with what is on the horizon Total ban regarding these services for children under the age of 16, and is expected to take effect in the spring of 2027. Both measures come after… Internet safety lawA controversial A set of laws that require platforms that host pornography and other material deemed harmful to children to verify that their users are 18 or older.

Young Britons will also see a “crackdown” on “addictive” features of social apps, including “videos that play automatically one after another and feeds that constantly deliver personalized content,” DSIT said in a press release. According to a statement from the administration, these mechanisms will be “turned off by default for older teens.” However, people will also be able to move beyond those things.

The first full set of social media regulations will be before Parliament later this year before they come into force in 2027.

DSIT said the latest set of proposed regulations aim to “help ensure there is no cliff-edge in protection as young people move into their late teenage years”, as future young people will theoretically have no social media experience before this age, thanks to restrictions on apps and websites under the Online Safety Act.

British Technology Minister Liz Kendall said in a statement about the new measures: “These measures will be crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends, all of which are essential to building happy, healthy and fulfilling adult lives.”

“We want young people to enjoy the benefits of technology while having the tools to make the online world a place where they can thrive,” Kendall said.

DSIT also noted that Kendall aims to provide additional protections around AI, including mandatory chat breaks for children under 18, who have already been banned from AI platforms that can mimic romantic conversations. Regulators will be tasked with reining in services offering “dangerous, misleading or unverified mental health advice”, with the department warning that chatbots found to “pose a serious threat” to UK young people could be banned altogether.

Finally, the government seeks to strengthen children’s media literacy through updated school curricula covering artificial intelligence, technological bias, misinformation and disinformation, as well as strategies to identify violent and misogynistic content.

In recent years, technology giants have faced a wave of… Major lawsuits and Alarming research Related to the potential negative effects of social media on younger users and advocates Mobilized all over the world To push for broad age limits on these platforms, with parents and politicians often agreeing on the need for such protections. The UK government, for example, has found this 9 out of 10 parents There is “support for the legal requirement for social media services to have a minimum age for accessing them.” A Pew Research Center poll, published this month, found that 56 percent of American adults would also support a social media ban for those under 16.

But groups including Electronic Freedom Foundationthe American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and happy They have strongly criticized this type of “age restriction”, arguing that it is an overly simplistic solution that limits the right to open information and freedom of expression. They point out that lawmakers could use these restrictions for oversight Sex education and LGBTQ resources Which has critical value for teens.