Kemi Badenoch says Tories would ban under-16s from addictive' social media

"What we are seeing is a lot of children spending so many hours a day on platforms that are profiting from their anxiety, from their distraction, and they are actually designed to be addictive. So what we want to see is common sense, protection for children and freedom for adults. We want to give parents some understanding that the government understands what they're going through. So we want to bring in age limits."

"The internet is a wild west, social media in particular. We don't think children should be on there, and we want the industry to set the direction of travel so that we can start working with them now in order to get the proper solutions in place."

Conservatives propose banning social media access for under-16s and other measures to curb platform-driven anxiety, distraction, and addiction among teenagers. Kemi Badenoch supports a 16-year age limit similar to Australia's new restrictions. Australia now prevents under-16s from creating accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch. The Conservatives propose banning smartphones in schools and asking platforms to implement age verification tools, with policy scope to be reviewed. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and technology secretary Liz Kendall oppose an outright ban, while health secretary Wes Streeting favors stronger protections. The proposal aims to protect children, support parents, and involve industry.

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