Sixteen and 17-year-olds will face a voluntary overnight social media curfew, the automatic shutdown of infinite scrolling and breaks in AI chatbot use in one of Sir Keir Starmer’s final acts as prime minister.
These changes, part of Sir Keir’s wider restrictions on children’s social media, will see default settings block access for older teenagers between midnight and 6 am.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall will announce that features keeping users hooked, like endless video reels and algorithmic feeds, will be automatically disabled.
However, critics questioned the measures’ effectiveness, noting that 16- and 17-year-olds can simply switch off these default settings.
Sir Keir’s government last month unveiled a social media ban for under-16s.
Expected from next spring, this covers platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X, but not messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal.
The announcement came days before the Makerfield by-election, but it will fall to contest winner and incoming prime minister Andy Burnham to figure out key details.
Ms Kendall said the latest measures will help ensure under-18s accessing social media apps for the first time will not suddenly be exposed to the most addictive features.
The technology secretary said in a statement: “Our consultation provided a clear message from parents and teenagers alike – even as young people gain greater independence at 16, they should still be protected from the most addictive online features that can have a harmful impact on their wellbeing.
“These measures will be crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends, all of which are fundamental to building a happy, healthy and fulfilling adult life.
“We want young people to enjoy the benefits of technology while having the tools to make the online world a place where they can thrive.”
Families who took part in a government pilot involving more than 300 teenagers and parents across the UK reported that overnight curfews helped improve sleep and concentration, according to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Dsit).
Ms Kendall also wants to introduce new safeguards for children using artificial intelligence.
The proposals include requiring under-18s to take regular breaks while using chatbots, and a crackdown on AI services that provide “dangerous, misleading or unverified mental health advice”, with ministers considering banning chatbots that pose a serious threat to children, Dsit said.
New guidance for children, parents and guardians on safe AI use will be published, and media literacy teaching will be strengthened in schools from September.
It follows a move from the European Union to limit young children’s access to social media across the 27-member bloc in what would be the biggest such effort to date to guard against online dangers.
Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: “This is another dog’s dinner from Labour.
“Either they think 16- and 17-year-olds should be on social media or they don’t, but curfews they can simply switch off won’t achieve anything.
“Giving 16-year-olds the vote while putting them under a social media curfew makes no sense. They’re also rolling out AI tutors in schools for the most disadvantaged while announcing more lessons on dealing with dangers of AI chatbots.
“They should stop tinkering and get on with getting under-16s off social media.”
NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood said: “These proposed safety measures for 16- and 17-year-olds will go some way to improving the experiences of young people on social media – particularly having autoplay and functions that recommend content turned off by default and a curfew.
“But the proposals will not be enough on their own.
“Unless they’re followed up with further, stronger measures they will be a sticking plaster that fails to address the addictive design features which are driving high screentime and undermining children’s wellbeing.”
Colette Collins-Walsh, from the 5Rights Foundation – a non-governmental organisation that campaigns for online safety, said: “Social media bans and curfews only manage exposure to risk. They do nothing to incentivise change in a tech industry built on capturing children’s attention.
“The government has promised children a good childhood in the digital age. That means requiring safe and age-appropriate design across all the digital products and services children use, at home, school and everything in between.”
Andy Lulham, chief operating officer at online safety provider Verifymy, said the default setting for the overnight limit for 16- and 17-year-olds “will ask the most of platforms technically, since they’ll now need to identify and apply different rules to three distinct groups – the under-16s being banned from next spring, older adolescents, and adults with full, open access”.
“None of this will work without robust age assurance underpinning it. A default can only do its job if a platform knows, reliably, that a user is 16 or 17,” he added.
Speaking on a social media ban for under-16s after it was announced, Sir Keir said: “How we keep kids safe online is one of the biggest debates of our time. As a dad, I know every parent wants their child to grow up safe and happy.
“This is a choice about whose side we’re on: families across the country, or a status quo that isn’t working. People rightly expect action, and this government will always stand up for parents and put children first.
“That’s why we will call time on a system that’s failing our kids and take bold action to give every child the best possible start in life.”
