The UK government has launched a public consultation into imposing a blanket ban on social media for under-16s. Open Rights Group warns that this would be a damaging and ineffective response to online harms. It would create serious risks to privacy, data protection, and freedom of expression.
Blanket bans mean blanket age-gating
Whether it’s an outright ban or applying film-style age ratings to social media, these proposals would still require widespread age verification. Platforms would have no way to enforce age-based access without forcing users to prove their age.
This would mean millions of 16-17 year olds, as well as adults, being required to hand over additional personal data to private companies to communicate online.