The United Kingdom will prohibit access to social networks for those under 16 years of age

LondonThe impunity of big tech companies has ended in the United Kingdom. Or at least, that is what Prime Minister Keir Starmer intends, who this Monday made a 180-degree turn and announced the prohibition of access for minors under sixteen years of age to social networks. Furthermore, adolescents up to 18 years of age will also have their ability to continuously browse social networks until late at night restricted, in what has been compared to a kind of curfew, in this case, a technological one. The legislative reform also aims to go further with changes to video game and live streaming platforms, so that strangers cannot contact minors. Last week, Starmer already gave an "ultimatum to Google and Apple" to activate mechanisms that prevent minors from making, sending, or receiving sexually explicit images from their mobile phones.

Starmer stated that social networks "make children unhappy, facilitate harassment, can harm mental health, and are designed to be addictive." "It will be difficult to legislate, regulate, and enforce the ban, but it is worth pursuing because I am not willing to compromise children's safety," he said. Starmer assured that despite the resistance that big tech companies may offer, the government will remain firm: "We have the capacity to act, and we will," he assured. Starmer has established a "clear correlation" between the use of smartphones and an almost epidemic in the mental health of young people and adolescents in the United Kingdom, "which intensified especially during covid."

The responsibility for compliance with the new laws will fall on big tech companies. The affected platforms will be Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X, but not WhatsApp and Signal. Services such as YouTube Kids, Lego Play, and Google Classroom will be exempt.

For the moment, however, from the speech Starmer gave from Downing Street, very few details can be known about how the ban will be implemented and, above all, how compliance will be guaranteed. Regarding its entry into force, the "

premier

" said he is confident that the legislative process will be completed by next spring. The United Kingdom's rule thus joins the one that came into force in Australia more than six months ago.

Australia's experience

is more than six months ago.

Australia's experienceAccording to recent surveys, 70% of parents say their children still use networks, even though millions of accounts have been deactivated by tech companies. Despite this, authorities acknowledge that a "substantial proportion" of minors continue to maintain or recreate profiles, and they state that no fines have yet been imposed, while the possible non-compliance by major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube is being investigated.

And in Spain?

In the State, the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, also announced on February 3rdthe Spanish government's intention to ban social networks for minors under 16 years of age. An announcement that generated the direct reaction of the owner of X, Elon Musk, who called Sánchez a "tyrant" and a "traitor". In addition to the veto for minors under 16, Sánchez also explained that the Spanish executive wants to oblige platforms to implement "effective age verification systems" that go beyond simple formal declarations and guarantee real and effective barriers, as defended by the executive.

Despite the announcement made four months ago, at the moment, the proposal is more a declaration of intent than a reality, as it is not yet known how the prohibition is intended to be made effective nor how minors under 16 would be prevented from setting foot on social networks. For now, the only thing known is that Sánchez's government's intention is for the "express prohibition" to be added to the law on the protection of minors in digital environments that is being processed in Congress.

Cultural change

From Starmer's words, it is deduced that practically a generation of adolescents is considered lost, probably the oldest ones, already close to 16 years old. The "premier" has admitted that some of these boys and girls "will find ways to circumvent the restrictions" but, in any case, he said he trusts that "a very significant reduction in the presence of minors on social networks" will occur. And he insisted that it is the "first step", since what may be more relevant is the "cultural change" that the ban will foster. "It will take time, but it will spread the idea that our children can grow up in a different way and have a better and more enriching childhood", without being addicted to social networks. In a way, the Labour government hopes that the restrictions imposed on social networks will have the same long-term effect as the fight against tobacco decades ago.

Some specialists assure that the new legislative measures should cover not only social networks, but also video games and artificial intelligence tools, as young people spend increasingly more time in these digital environments, and less time in forums like Facebook. Through a statement, YouTube's first reaction after the announcement was to say that "a ban of this type could push minors towards less safe services".

Keir Starmer's announcement takes place in a key week, in which a good part of the prime minister's political future is at stake. On Thursday, a by-election will be held in the district of Makerfield, in northwest England, and if the Labour candidate and current mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, wins, he has promised to challenge the party leadership to obtain the keys to Downing Street. From this point of view, social media legislation could become one of the most relevant legacies of a premier who has not yet been in office for two years, but who in recent weeks has lost all the credit he had gained. Following the local and regional elections in early May, almost a hundred of his MPs asked him to step down.