The UK government has confirmed it will ban social media for under 16s and impose some restrictions on video game platforms that offer communications and livestreaming functionality.
The move comes after the government ran a national consultation from March to May 2026 that it said showed “overwhelming public demand for action” with 9 out of 10 parents backing a social media ban for children aged 16 and under.
Although the government noted that children in that age group will still be able to “access the online world safely for learning, news, games, and staying in touch with known friends”—meaning video games have avoided an outright ban—it explained “high-risk features” including livestreaming and communications with strangers will be restricted on video game platforms.
“This will be backed up by stronger requirements for age checks on platforms,” adds an explainer on the UK government website.
It’s currently unclear how the UK government will seek to regulate those platforms—or which video game platforms will be impacted.
“Yes it’s hard. Hard to legislate for. Hard to regulate. Hard to enforce,” said UK prime minister Keir Starmer in a Sky News broadcast. “That’s why we sought a wide range of views on this. That’s why we listened to people. Had a conversation. We looked carefully at the evidence. Learned from countries like Australia, that are taking similar steps.
“We’re not just bringing forward a ban. We’re going further. We’re taking world-leading action on gaming services and live streaming platforms, where at the moment strangers can contact any child unchecked. Just think about that. Is there a situation in the offline world where you would just let your child pair up with a stranger? An adult that you don’t know anything about. No. So we’re taking action on that.”
UK video game industry trade body Ukie responded to the news by welcoming the decision to distinguish video games from social media in the proposed restrictions for under 16s, and said it has offered to act as a technical partner with the government to co-create the regulations that will apply to game platforms.
The organization also stressed that many video game platforms already include parental controls that can be used to restrict young users from chatting with strangers, and noted that new age rating criteria being introduced by PEGI will result in titles with unrestricted communication features being automatically rated PEGI 18 regardless of their content.
As noted by the BBC earlier this year, Australian internet regulator eSafety has suggested the country’s own social media ban has fallen short of expectations due to a lack of compliance from those companies impacted.
In another report from the BBC published in May, Scotland’s children commissioner Nicola Killean questioned the effectiveness of a ban and said it could even drive children towards more dangerous corners of the internet.
The UK government has pledged to outline how the ban will be implemented in the coming months and said the legislation will come into effect from Spring 2027.