Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The Conservatives have announced they would ban under-16s from accessing social media platforms if they were in government, amid growing concerns about young people’s mental health, ability to concentrate and their easy access to harmful content online.
The Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, also said phones would be banned in schools if the Tories came into power, arguing the move would help protect children’s mental health and education.
The party, which is heavily trailing in the polls, wants social media companies, including the hugely popular TikTok, and Snapchat, to use age verification checks to prevent under-16s from using their sites.
It comes as the NASUWT teachers’ union calls on the government to ban social media for under-16s to improve concentration at school and stem damage to mental health.
Australia’s world-first social media ban for children under the age of 16 came into effect last month. Under-16s there cannot use major social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat, and have had their existing profiles deactivated and can’t set up new accounts.
Australia’s under-16s have lost their access to major digital platforms. Illustration: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design/Getty Images
Several other countries are considering social media bans for under-15s after Australia’s ban including Denmark, whose government hopes to introduce a ban in 2026, Norway, and France, who reportedly intends to ban social media platforms for children from the start of the 2026 academic year.
The UK Labour party has not entirely opposed the idea, saying “nothing is off the table” but has cautioned that any ban must be “based on robust evidence”.
Kemi Badenoch will likely be grilled on the details of the proposed under-16s social media ban when she appears on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg Sunday Politics programme shortly. We will bring you what is said then so stick with us.
Updated at 03.54 EST
Key events
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Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch is speaking to Laura Kuenssberg now on the BBC in what is the second of the new year interviews with party leaders (Keir Starmer was first up last week).
The Conservative party has been leaking members and elected officials to Reform UK, which polling suggests has a broad voter coalition that stretches from struggling workers and frustrated graduates to wealthy retirees.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has been praised by commentators for her recent PMQ performances but her appeal to voters still appears to be limited.
However, Badenoch would have been happy with the latest YouGov poll putting her party ahead of Labour for the first time since the 2024 general election. The poll had the Tories on 19% and Labour on 17% – both behind Reform UK, which had 26%.
ShareBan social media for under-16s, top teaching union urges UK government
Geraldine McKelvie
Geraldine McKelvie is a senior correspondent at the Guardian
One of the UK’s biggest teaching unions has called on the government to ban social media for under-16s over concerns about mental health and concentration.
The Teachers’ Union (NASUWT) wants legislation to be tightened so big tech firms would face penalties for allowing children to access their platforms.
The online safety debate was thrust back into the spotlight this month when it emerged Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool was digitally removing the clothing of women and children.
A pioneering social media ban for under-16s came into force in Australia last month, but its effectiveness has yet to be established.
NASUWT said there was increasing evidence that unregulated access to social media was detrimental to children, affecting behaviour in school and harming mental health. It also said children were being harmed by exposure to violent and sexually explicit content.
The union’s general secretary, Matt Wrack, said:
Teachers are dealing every day with the fallout of a social media landscape not originally designed and not suitable for children. Social media companies have shown time and again that they will not act responsibly unless they are forced to do so.
If we are serious about safeguarding children, protecting their mental health and combating the behaviour crisis in our schools, then a statutory ban for under-16s must happen urgently.
You can read the full story here:
ShareConservatives would ban under-16s from social media if in power
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The Conservatives have announced they would ban under-16s from accessing social media platforms if they were in government, amid growing concerns about young people’s mental health, ability to concentrate and their easy access to harmful content online.
The Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, also said phones would be banned in schools if the Tories came into power, arguing the move would help protect children’s mental health and education.
The party, which is heavily trailing in the polls, wants social media companies, including the hugely popular TikTok, and Snapchat, to use age verification checks to prevent under-16s from using their sites.
It comes as the NASUWT teachers’ union calls on the government to ban social media for under-16s to improve concentration at school and stem damage to mental health.
Australia’s world-first social media ban for children under the age of 16 came into effect last month. Under-16s there cannot use major social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat, and have had their existing profiles deactivated and can’t set up new accounts.
Australia’s under-16s have lost their access to major digital platforms. Illustration: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design/Getty Images
Several other countries are considering social media bans for under-15s after Australia’s ban including Denmark, whose government hopes to introduce a ban in 2026, Norway, and France, who reportedly intends to ban social media platforms for children from the start of the 2026 academic year.
The UK Labour party has not entirely opposed the idea, saying “nothing is off the table” but has cautioned that any ban must be “based on robust evidence”.
Kemi Badenoch will likely be grilled on the details of the proposed under-16s social media ban when she appears on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg Sunday Politics programme shortly. We will bring you what is said then so stick with us.
Updated at 03.54 EST