Fact sheet: New rules to protect children online
The UK government will ban social media for under 16s.
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Social media to be banned for under 16s, as well as certain harmful features on online services like livestreaming and strangers contacting children will be restricted for under 18s.
Updates to this page
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Added the following questions 12. What extra steps are you taking to protect teenagers? 13. Which platforms will this default setting apply to? 14. How are you protecting children from the harms of AI chatbots? 15. Do these measures mean children will be banned from using AI chatbots? 16. How will mandatory breaks work in practice?
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Added questions 9, 10 and 11
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An update to question 4 on live streaming and stranger communication.
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First published.
Update history
2026-07-17 08:59
Added the following questionsWhat extra steps are you taking to protect teenagers?Which platforms will this default setting apply to? How are you protecting children from the harms of AI chatbots?Do these measures mean children will be banned from using AI chatbots? How will mandatory breaks work in practice?
2026-06-19 18:13
Added questions 9, 10 and 11
2026-06-15 15:48
An update to question 4 on live streaming and stranger communication.
2026-06-15 10:08
First published.