Today’s Social Media Ban Announcement: Discussion

[ByeByeTikTok]

I haven’t seen a thread for today’s expected ban on social media for Under 16s so thought I’d start one. If there already is one pls link and I’ll get this deleted.

What will it likely include?
What won’t it include?
How do you and your kids feel about it, especially if they’re already using it?
Will you follow it, and when?
Will people try to get round it?

We are anti social media. We are generally very firm on our boundaries. But even we caved when every other kid in our son’s friend group stopped messaging on WhatsApp and switched to Snapchat.

I didn’t want to. But didn’t want to isolate him.

Weve held firm on the others though but are starting to get a lot of challenge from him - he’s 14 soon.

This news means we have WAY more power against his argument now and also that DD11 will never stand a chance of pushing us as we’ve got this legislation to back us up.

Its just in time for us - just because its too late for
some children or won’t be respected by some families doesn’t mean its not worth doing.

My kids have only benefited from YouTube
they are not watching anything dodgy because I feel YouTube are really responsible compared to other platforms and my kids are actively searching for videos in their interest topics. This is very different to other platforms.

That’s simply not the society and culture we generally accept in the uk though, there’s a reason we have strategies and policy in place to protect children.
If someone just can’t be arsed to parent their children we don’t just current leave the parent to get on with it, the government already step in when it puts the child in danger.

I think this is a really interesting take.

Absolutely delighted with this news. Yes challenges in enforcing it but it’s about culture change. Think of the smoking ban at first. It takes time to wean people from their addiction.

This.

Why do people applaud the government making more laws? Do you not want to make your own minds up about life instead of being told what to do?

This will be used to implement a ban on adults too, just wait.
I see Blue Sky is allowed ( left wing) but not X

This is socialism.

It's also used a lot in schools. To help with topics and for wake and shake / movement breaks.

The ban seems to have taken a sledgehammer approach.

Yes I agree

YouTube needs to be excluded. It’s not really social media, it’s educational

But we ban children from other addictive things like tobacco, alcohol and gambling. Do you have a problem with this infringement on their liberties? Everyone knew tobacco was killing people long before action was eventually taken.

KS said YouTube kids is not banned.

So lots of the educational content will stay… and also parents who want their tablets to babysit their kids can still do so 😄

Control of what?

Kids will take to social media now like never before.

What social media is included in the ban?

Only the ones with shit parents, and they were doomed anyway

Snapchat included in the ban. Interesting and a bit annoying.

Re loopholes: Just because someone can break the speed limit doesn't mean we don't have a speed limit.

If the volume of children on social media drops, that is a net benefit for society.

LIstening to R4 right now, there seems to be very little substance beyond this pre-election (in by-election week) speech. It will be implemented ‘next year, sometime in the Spring’ (so in about a year’s time).

I feel confident that Morgan McSweeny wrote the speech.

One thing the PM did say that I found interesting was that he acknowledged that (and I paraphrase) ‘Of course some kids will find a way around the new rule, just like we have underage drinkers; it doesn’t mean that we should do away with an alcohol ban on U18 drinkers because a few might break the law’

With that in mind, can Women now expect enhanced legislation/policies to protect their single-sex spaces?

Ofcom disagree with you and think it's unsuitable for kids.

Is YouTube social media ?!

If you want a different conversation then start a thread, same sex spaces are irrelevant to this policy.

Why do you say it’s annoying? I think Snapchat is awful… it’s masked as a messaging platform for friends but actually it has unlimited doomscrolling of some awful content, and it ACTIVELY ENCOURAGES kids to connect with people they done know online. Then it makes the messages disappear without a trace… there’s evidence that paedophiles also use it to track children.

The number one app used for child grooming as per NSPCC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cze3p1j710ko

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/26/brussels-opens-investigation-into-snapchat-amid-concern-over-childrens-safety

Of course it is, in what way would YouTube be any different to Tik tok or insta?
It’s user generated content, designed to be shared and engaged with in comments.

I think it’s a good idea, but I think it’s almost impossible to get the genie back in the bottle, by the time the ban comes in DD will be 14 and will have had ‘everything’ for a couple of years, I’m not sure how that can all be taken away, even if it’s a good idea in theory.

I mean it’s your own decision to give your 13 year old access to “everything” for several years.

This is exactly the sort of perspective and acceptance of ‘normal’ that needs to be changed.