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Original poster

AIBU to think banning social media for under-16s is a good idea?

388 replies

LizardLore · 15/06/2026 08:18

Just being announced now - social media banned for under-16s.

My instinct is it’s great, but I am interested in other views. My kids are very small so not an issue here yet.

YABU - the ban is bad
YANBU - the ban is good

OP posts:
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9
Backedoffhackedoff · 15/06/2026 09:02

Needmorelego · 15/06/2026 08:54

It hasn't worked in Australia.
Those that want to use it just use parents accounts or fake accounts.
It should be parents choice not the government.

Hasn’t worked after… a year? 18 months?

will probably work for the next generation though

Needmorelego · 15/06/2026 09:01

Zanatdy · 15/06/2026 08:25

Yes, having seen my nephew age 4 addicted to youtube already, I am in favour of banning it.

To be honest when my daughter was 4 she would have happily watched TV (regular old terrestrial tv as it was then) from the second she got up to all the way to bedtime.
Luckily I knew the TV had an off switch.

TemperanceWest · 15/06/2026 08:58

Hoardasurass · 15/06/2026 08:55

Because they cant make good law.
Look at the assisted dieing bill, I'm actually for euthanasia, however the leadbetter bill was a bin fire that would have caused so much harm and coerced deaths of predominantly vulnerable women and the disabled because of labour ideology and the inability of the party to make good laws that aren't liable to be expanded by activists using strategic lawsuits because of the loose language and the lack of appropriate or any safeguards.
When you take their record on laws and the continued authorian push from the left, along with the rush to push this bill and the potential for a Burnham premiership I am very concerned about any increase in censorship as I just don't trust them to do what's right for children instead of what's right for the labour party

Show quote history

I agree that legislation shouldn't be rushed, but the idea is a good one. I think even the Tories support it in theory?

MNLurker1345 · 15/06/2026 08:57

kaylot · 15/06/2026 08:39

I think it is awful. It should be up to the parents to decide. The lazy parents are the ones who are happy for the government to take charge rather than make decisions themselves.

But it is not just lazy parenting is it? There is also dysfunctional parenting. Young people who don’t have parents or guardians that give a damn.

Good parents already have control of their children’s internet use, whatever level they permit.

My 15 year old DGD does not have a smart phone. We are not some weird, luddite family,
we just wanted to protect her.

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 15/06/2026 08:56

Zanatdy · 15/06/2026 08:25

Yes, having seen my nephew age 4 addicted to youtube already, I am in favour of banning it.

But surely banning social media for children isn't going to be a solution for poor parenting?

The kind of parents who allow a 4yo to get addicted to youtube are not going to suddenly start parenting their dc simply because social media is banned?

Hoardasurass · 15/06/2026 08:55

TemperanceWest · 15/06/2026 08:35

Why?

Show quote history

Because they cant make good law.
Look at the assisted dieing bill, I'm actually for euthanasia, however the leadbetter bill was a bin fire that would have caused so much harm and coerced deaths of predominantly vulnerable women and the disabled because of labour ideology and the inability of the party to make good laws that aren't liable to be expanded by activists using strategic lawsuits because of the loose language and the lack of appropriate or any safeguards.
When you take their record on laws and the continued authorian push from the left, along with the rush to push this bill and the potential for a Burnham premiership I am very concerned about any increase in censorship as I just don't trust them to do what's right for children instead of what's right for the labour party

Needmorelego · 15/06/2026 08:54

It hasn't worked in Australia.
Those that want to use it just use parents accounts or fake accounts.
It should be parents choice not the government.

Changingplace · 15/06/2026 08:54

Backedoffhackedoff · 15/06/2026 08:52

Great idea.
its a long term policy-
people criticised smoking restrictions because they couldn’t understand how they would be effective and look how well that’s gone.

So true, I remember smoking in pubs & restaurants being totally normal and loads of people thought it would never work having the restrictions which feels like madness now!

Backedoffhackedoff · 15/06/2026 08:52

Great idea.
its a long term policy-
people criticised smoking restrictions because they couldn’t understand how they would be effective and look how well that’s gone.

Changingplace · 15/06/2026 08:52

anon199900 · 15/06/2026 08:50

Not sure if it’s wrong that I don’t consider YouTube social media. Will this also be banned? I hope not.

Unless they can find a way to verify certain content for under 16 then yes, possibly, maybe they’ll work out a compromise of verified content.

Changingplace · 15/06/2026 08:50

kaylot · 15/06/2026 08:42

Vpn blockers would mean we are heading for a control like China. Never give away more rights to the government.

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I think it’s more akin to age restrictions for films or the 9pm watershed on tv programs, both those things are totally normal, why shouldn’t online content have similar restrictions?

anon199900 · 15/06/2026 08:50

Not sure if it’s wrong that I don’t consider YouTube social media. Will this also be banned? I hope not.

fanOfBen · 15/06/2026 08:45

LizardLore Mumsnet hadn't occurred to me. Suppose we had an influx of children here, as it was one of the few places they could still gather. What could possibly go wrong, lol?

Original poster
LizardLore · 15/06/2026 08:44

Hoardasurass · 15/06/2026 08:26

With the shit show that is the labour party no this is not a good thing

Edited

Can we think about the bigger picture though? Labour are likely to be out in a few short years, let’s be real. I believe Tories support a ban like this, but not sure if Reform do

It’s unlikely whoever comes in next is going to roll it back, so let’s play the ball not the man…

OP posts:
kaylot · 15/06/2026 08:42

Blueeyedmale · 15/06/2026 08:28

The problem is they could implement vpn blockers but that would then block adults in countries who have no democray, so it's a difficult, I'm completely for the ban however I'm concerned this will push children to seek out entertainment on chat rooms and social forums on the darkweb putting them further at risk.

Show quote history

Vpn blockers would mean we are heading for a control like China. Never give away more rights to the government.

Changingplace · 15/06/2026 08:41

kaylot · 15/06/2026 08:39

I think it is awful. It should be up to the parents to decide. The lazy parents are the ones who are happy for the government to take charge rather than make decisions themselves.

I disagree, the lazy parents are the ones who aren’t taking control of what their kids access, it’s no different than having age restrictions on films or a 9pm watershed on tv programmes.

Original poster
LizardLore · 15/06/2026 08:40

fanOfBen · 15/06/2026 08:33

It won't technically be enforceable, but I think having it be illegal for kids to be on social media will still make a big difference. It'll make it much easier for parents to say no and react strongly if they find their own kids are on, and it should break the "but everyone else is" which is what makes it hard to resist. I'm interested in the details though - e.g. is reddit included? What happens if people set up large groups on e.g. whatsapp, telegram, signal, gathering kids? To my mind if kids are communicating online with people they know IRL that's one thing, the big problem is communicating with people who might be anyone or not even people. That isn't in itself a distinction that will be easy to make, though.

All really interesting points. Agree kids will get around it - but they also do with drinking, vapes, smoking and we still ban those things to create a social norm (actually Starmer made a point like this in his speech that I’m somewhat paraphrasing).

I see whatsapp as not too dissimilar to things like MSN Messenger which I used as a teen to chat to friends. As you say, so long as it’s people they actually know and they’re not posting out to the world it’s not such a concern - but where does one draw that line?

Reddit is a bit of a grey area as it’s technically anonymous but many people do still post photos of themselves on it and share personal information. And of course it’s an outrageous time suck (just like Mumsnet!).

OP posts:
Boomer55 · 15/06/2026 08:40

Yes. Great idea.

MumofCandR · 15/06/2026 08:40

I think it's a great idea, it alleviates the peer pressure. I have a 13 and 14 year olds they weren't happy when I said no to Snapchat but that's because their friends have it.

Changingplace · 15/06/2026 08:39

anon199900 · 15/06/2026 08:25

I think it’s a brilliant idea as a mother of an 13, 11 and 8 year old. I hope they have a better way to police it than Australia.

I think it’s something that needs to evolve, the issue is these sites have been built with very little restrictions to begin with but I agree it’s a good idea and the tech companies need to realise they’re not above the laws of individual countries.

kaylot · 15/06/2026 08:39

I think it is awful. It should be up to the parents to decide. The lazy parents are the ones who are happy for the government to take charge rather than make decisions themselves.

Imlyingandthatsthetruth · 15/06/2026 08:39

TemperanceWest · 15/06/2026 08:35

Why?

Show quote history

Ignore. "I hate labour so anything they do or say is bad". Pathetic.

Changingplace · 15/06/2026 08:37

Blueeyedmale · 15/06/2026 08:28

The problem is they could implement vpn blockers but that would then block adults in countries who have no democray, so it's a difficult, I'm completely for the ban however I'm concerned this will push children to seek out entertainment on chat rooms and social forums on the darkweb putting them further at risk.

Show quote history

Blocks are enforceable by country, what we do in the UK won’t have implications on what other countries do.

There’s been a block on adult content sites in the UK for a while now without age verification, yes I’m sure there’s ways round it but it’s still been done.

TemperanceWest · 15/06/2026 08:35

Hoardasurass · 15/06/2026 08:26

With the shit show that is the labour party no this is not a good thing

Edited

Why?

Changingplace · 15/06/2026 08:34

rollitonio · 15/06/2026 08:24

I agree it’s the right thing. But I’m really unsure how they will enforce it?

They’ve banned access to adult content sites without age verification, I guess something similar.

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