Over 100,000 people urge MPs to ban social media for under-16s in UK

UK MPs’ inboxes have been inundated with letters calling for an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s, as the prime minister indicated such a move was being considered.

According to The Guardian, more than 100,000 people have contacted their local MP since the grassroots organisation Smartphone Free Childhood launched an email campaign on Tuesday evening with a template calling for “reasonable, age-appropriate boundaries”.

When asked about the issue on Thursday, Keir Starmer hinted a ban could be getting closer, telling reporters: “We need to better protect children from social media.”

Starmer has previously opposed banning social media for children, believing such a move would be difficult to police and could push teenagers towards the dark web. But on Monday he told Labour MPs he would consider all options in curbing young people’s access to social media.

Pressure continues to mount on the government to ban social media for under-16s after a fortnight of controversy about Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool being used to digitally remove the clothes of women and children.

When Australia introduced a social media ban for under-16s last month, more than 4.7m social media accounts believed to be held by young people were removed in the first days of the law coming into force.