My Take On The UK Social Media Ban

Episode 14, Season 3: The UK Social Media Ban - What a result! Also, what does this mean...

On the 15th June 2026, the UK government announced that children under 16 will be banned from social media. TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, X etc. Coming into effect Spring 2027.

I am really pleased - in the work I do with clients I help a fair amount of stressed parents who are navigating smartphones and addictive apps. A lot are full of regret. 

But I've been sitting with it... and some questions started to surface that I think deserve some airtime.

In this solo episode I share why this moment is historic, why I've been advocating for exactly this, AND why the age verification method being proposed - facial recognition, government ID, biometric data handed to the very platforms we don't trust - is making me uneasy.

I feel we kinda need to be reading the small print here. And ask who ALSO really benefits from the infrastructure being built around this ban?

Both things can be true. This is a win for childhood. And we should be paying very close attention to what comes next.

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Other mentions in the episode: https://www.smartphonefreechildhood.org/