While the government had previously revealed that it was studying options around a ban, both the Guardian and the Financial Times said that Starmer is now ready to unveil the policy in a speech on Monday. Government sources told the Guardian that the U.K. ban will cover a similar range of social platforms as Australia, where TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, X, Threads, Snapchat, Twitch, and Kick are all banned for users under 16. Other products, such as gaming apps, would not be banned outright, but for their younger users, they'd need to remove features like the ability to chat with strangers. The policy would also prohibit users under 18 from accessing romantic and sexual chatbots and seek to prevent late-night scrolling. The U.K. is one of a number of countries following Australia's lead by considering bans on social media use by children. The U.K. already passed an age verification law that was similarly touted as protecting the safety of children online. These bans...
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