The biggest reactions to UK's under-16s social media ban | indy100

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The UK government has announced plans to ban under 16s from social media - and it's a decision that has sparked plenty of reaction online.

In the announcement, it was confirmed that the policy will be introduced in early 2027 and will use the same model as Australia which introduced this ban back in December last year.

Social media platforms "whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material" will be banned, these are anticipated to include Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube (but not YouTube Kids).

However, messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal will not be included in the social media ban.

"Parents want to keep their kids safe and happy, but the online world has made that harder than ever," said Prime minister, Keir Starmer.

"I’ve heard first hand from families crying out for change and we will do right by them."

Starmer continued, "That’s why we’re going further than any country in the world by banning social media for under-16s and putting wider protections in place to give kids their childhood back."

He went on to describe the policy as "a line in the sand," adding, "Tech giants had their chance and failed, but we’re stepping in to protect children, back parents and set a new normal for future generations."

Reaction to under 16s social media ban

Since the news broke of the under 16s social media ban in the UK, there has been plenty of reaction.

The most viral and iconic one came from a schoolgirl who was asked by a BBC reporter what she will do now instead of having screen time, to which the schoolgirl hilariously gave the deadpan response, "Stare at a wall."

" I can already tell this is going to be an all timer," one person said.

A second person wrote, "This is what makes me patriotic."

"'Stare at a wall' is so apt bc there is literally nothing for kids to do here anymore. Parks are for young children, so teens get chased out, everything is super expensive so you can't go on a day out, and there's precious little nature left to explore. Thats all you can do," a third person posted.

"The ban is working already, look at creativity coming out of her," a fourth person commented.

A fifth person pointed out, "They’re not old enough to be on social media but can have their faces plastered all over TV. Alright man."

"So just to be clear, a 16 year old girl can legally have a baby but can’t watch TikToks after dinner? Sound"

Someone else noted, "Doing this without investing in kid-friendly public spaces and programmes makes no sense whatsoever. all this is gonna do is push kids to use more fringe and unregulated social media apps."

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