There is increasing debate about social media use and young people’s mental health. This has been spurred by a recent Conservative Party proposal to implement a blanket ban on social media for under 16s. The Government will run a consultation on young people and social media, including whether or not there should be a ban. The ban is inspired by similar proposals from many countries across the world, including an already-implemented ban in Australia.
At NSUN we welcome conversations about how social media companies, including their aggressive and addictive algorithms, exploit and harm young people. Big Tech must be responsible for the harms it profits from. There are far better ways of doing this than punishing young people.
We do not believe a blanket ban will achieve the effects it claims. This is hunch-based lawmaking, claiming to be acting for young people while simultaneously acting elsewhere to make their lives less liveable e.g. by slashing benefits, claiming worklessness, and weaponising the language of “overdiagnosis”.
Tackling the youth mental health crisis will require complex and nuanced responses. It is only young people themselves who can tell us what that could look like. Rather than banning them from something potentially harmful, we need to centre young people in their own lives and needs.
What is the social media ban?
- The “social media ban” refers to banning under 16 year olds from certain social media platforms. Many are pointing to Australia, which recently implemented a similar ban.
- The ban is not yet law or in action.
- The ban was not the Government’s idea, instead, opposition MPs tried to add it to a piece of legislation currently being developed, called the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
- The Government said it will run its own consultation on young people and social media, including whether or not there should be a social media ban. It is not clear whether or how young people will be involved.
- If the Government does accept the amendment, it will then have one year to decide which platforms the ban should apply to.
What is the ban on phones in schools?
- On 19th January 2026, the Department for Education published new guidance for schools on becoming phone free.
- The Government is expected to pass a new law making it compulsory for schools to implement the ban.
Along with many others accessing the mental health sector, we fear that a blanket ban puts young people more at risk, ignores lived realities and is misleading. Specifically, the ban:
- Punishes young people for the harms that for-profit companies are causing them, treating “young people, rather than the platforms, as the risk”.
- Forces a false expectation of “wellbeing” onto a generation facing an increasingly divisive, uncertain, and dangerous world, led by for-profit companies who surveille and exploit us.
- Pushes young people towards alternative, less safe platforms that we know even less about. A ban would create secrecy around social media use, making it more difficult for young people to reach out if something is going wrong online, creating cultures of distrust, and failing to prepare them for the realities of adult life (including how to keep safe online).
- Denies young people the opportunity to learn about the world/participate in public life (which increasingly occurs online). This will isolate all young people, but will disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ and Disabled young people, young carers, as well as those who live in rural areas.
- Gives social media companies more information about all users through more intensive age verification processes.
- Fails to consider how the ban will be implemented, including how it is to be enforced, how the system will cope with negative fallout, and the risks facing young people who will (inevitably) get around the ban.
- Allows the Government to give the illusion of being “hard” on social media companies, while continuing to allow Big Tech to infiltrate our public services e.g. pushing AI usage in educational settings or awarding NHS contracts to spy-tech companies such as Palantir.
This blanket ban is not rooted in the expertise or autonomy of young people. It is an ‘easy win’ policy that right-leaning MPs are using to try to regain public support. Labour MPs will jump on board, trying to ride the wave of popularity and save the current government.
Young people deserve protection from Big Tech, and it is only young people who can tell us how to do that. No doubt they have been telling us for a while. If only the political system stopped using them as pawns, we might possibly be able to hear them.