In 2025 Lord Nash, Conservative peer and schools minister from 2013 to 2017, tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, seeking to raise the age limit to 16 for the most harmful social media platforms. For Lord Nash – and many others – these platforms are creating a profound crisis for children’s mental health, driving record levels of self-harm, eating disorders and anxiety and exposing young people to predatory contact. The amendment was voted through by 111 votes, representing a significant parliamentary defeat for the Labour Government.
Mandatory Curfews a Possibility
Under plans being considered by Labour, children could be subject to mandatory curfews on their social media use. In March 2026, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall began a consultation looking at ways to tighten young people’s access to and use of social media, with the curfew being one of the ideas under consideration. This could involve banning children from using social media at night to prevent addictive platforms and apps disturbing their sleep.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the consultation the day before the Lords backed the amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and School’s Bill tabled by Lord John Nash. This amendment would force the Government to introduce an Australian-style social media ban for under-16s, and such a ban is one of the options being considered in the consultation.
Trialling a Ban
In March 2026, hundreds of teenagers were enlisted to trial social media bans. Due to take place over several months, the first trial involves around 150 children aged between 13 and 15 and will test how they respond to being denied access to social media entirely, overnight screen curfews and being limited to one hour a day of access. The trial will assess participants’ physical activity, mood and sleep.
The Power of Lobbyists
Earlier this year, an article by The Guardian newspaper revealed that access to government ministers by technology companies and their lobbyists dwarfed that of campaigners for child safety. At least 639 meetings with ministers were attended by the former in the two years to October 2025. In comparison, campaigners for improved online child protection attended just 75. To make the issue of restrictions more complex, some children’s charities are opposed to an outright ban, which is partly why the Government has acknowledged it’s looking at a range of options.