6 min read
Explained
Published:
15 Jun 2026
Last updated:
15 Jun 2026
UK government announcement on banning social media for under-16s (plus some other stuff)
TL;DR:
The UK government has announced ‘Australia-plus’ age restrictions, with a blanket social media ban for under-16s and strict blocks on ‘harmful features’, such as live streaming and stranger communication. This specifically includes video game platforms and the first regulations may be in place by Spring 2027.
This article walks you through the announcement and speech, so you know what it could mean for the video games industry. If you find this article helpful and want deeper analysis or tailored advice and support, then get in touch – we’d be happy to discuss how our expertise can meet your needs. Even if you’re just curious about it all, we'd love to chat.
“Press release: Social media to be banned for under-16s in landmark government move to give kids their childhood back”
WHAT?!
Yeah, we know. It’s not even been 3 weeks since the ‘Growing up in the online world’ consultation concluded and the government has sprinted ahead by announcing (in a press release and a speech, with a factsheet) that they’ll be banning under-16s from “user-to-user platforms, whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material, alongside algorithms” AND “harmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication […] including on gaming sites.” They trailed the announcement last week by saying that they would announce ‘decisive’ measures, but that was a bit of an understatement.
Are video games covered?
The actual ‘social media’ bit won’t affect video games because, like Australia, the definition is about the purpose of the platform. However, sites used by the video game community, such as Twitch, may well be targeted.
BUT there’s specific action heading our way, as the government is going beyond ‘social media’ and extending it to features they believe are ‘harmful’ – live-streaming and stranger communication. The press release and the speech both explicitly call out video games, so there’s no avoiding this.
On the face of it, it’s likely that under-16s will be banned from some (or all) forms of in-game chat.
Several hours after the press release was published (thanks guys) some notes were added to clarify that:
“communicating with strangers” means methods for unknown users to contact and talk with children. This includes gaming services but will not affect the ability for children to participate in multiplayer games online.
The ban on live streaming will be for under 16s livestreaming themselves across all platforms.
It sounds like children will be allowed to participate in multiplayer matches, but only if they can be isolated from in-game chat. The legislation allows for restrictions to be both ways, meaning that children may not be able to listen or talk (good luck playing team-based arena games). While this allows games to retain their teenage player bases, it’s worth noting that it wouldn’t remove the need for age verification because you’d need to check a player’s age to figure out if they should be removed from the chat function.
Are they allowed to do this?
Yep. The recent Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (CWSA) amended the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) to create ‘section 241A’ – a set of powers allowing them to “require providers of internet services to prevent or restrict access by children to internet services”. Section 214A specifically includes a (non-exhaustive) list of features that can be restricted by these powers, which we covered in a previous update. This includes stranger-contact features, including live-streaming.
Were there any signs?
Between mid-January to late-April, the Lords and Commons tussled over the final wording of the CWSA, with each round of debates leading Labour further and further towards age restrictions. In January their position was that they didn’t want to rush into a ban because they wanted to consider the matter in full and learn from Australia’s experience. By 28 April, during the last round of debates, government officials were saying:
"We are consulting on the mechanism, which is the right thing to do, but we are clear that under any outcome we will impose some form of age or functionality [restrictions] for children under 16...
... We are focused on addictive features, harmful algorithmically-driven content and features such as stranger pairing"
The consultation paper specifically identified video games as ‘normalising’ stranger pairing, meaning that the games industry would be in the spotlight, and it’s worth noting that Labour themselves included the stranger-contact clauses in section 241A, indicating that they were heading in this direction.
What about the consultation?
Section 214A requires the government to have regard to the response to the ‘Growing up in the online world’ consultation. However, given that this only closed 3 weeks ago, the analysis has been quick. They’ve quoted a couple of the survey results (9 in 10 parents support a social media ban for children under 16; two-thirds of young people agree under-16s should not be allowed to use at least some social media platforms), but there are significant amounts of other information that were entered into free-text fields and sent by email.
How have they done this so quickly? The analysis of the consultation submissions is available here, and it states that the survey responses (over 100,000) had their free-text fields analysed by AI, with any submissions sent by email reviewed individually by officials. The government’s full, extensive response to the consultation has been published here.
Whatever your feelings about social media, it’s vital that regulatory change on this scale is based on robust evidence that the planned intervention is likely to tackle the harms that have been identified and that it is the most suitable course of action for the situation. The consultation forms part of this, but we would also expect other sources of information to be considered.
What’s the rush?
The CWSA sets out the timeframe for creating new regulations – the government has to issue a progress statement by 29 July and lay the first regulations in Parliament within 12 months of that statement. If the government has until 29 July next year (3 months until the progress statement, plus 12 months to draft regulations) then why are they rushing headfirst into announcing their regulations?
It’s likely to be driven by the upcoming by-election in Makerfield on 18 June. The Labour party is under pressure to win the seat and may have settled on children’s online safety as a headline policy that will draw approval from voters. Although the actual content of the regulations is not yet known, the announcement sends a clear message about their position.
This is also likely to be the driver behind other recent announcements, as the Prime Minister looks to consolidate his position and assert authority. Last week he called on Google and Apple to implement blocks preventing children from sending, receiving, or viewing sexually explicit images on their devices, another intervention supported by the consultation responses.
Anything else?
The government is kicking around the idea of overnight curfews – something that was very publicly tried and rescinded in South Korea a few years ago. There aren’t any details yet, so it remains to be seen whether they’ve learned from the experience of other countries in this area.
Last week the government launched a three-week call for evidence to help shape new guidance for parents on healthy screen use for children aged 5 to 16. The consultation explicitly requests information regarding how digital screens, including video games, impact a child's development, physical health, and mental well-being. It also looks at how specific platform features, such as live streaming and private messaging, alter that impact. The guidelines are aimed to be published by Autumn 2026 and will complement the government legislative measures.
Ofcom has been asked to do a ‘rapid study’ on the efficacy of age verification methods to see what’s effective and are also doing an ‘urgent review’ of their capacity for enforcement. That latter activity indicates that everyone is expecting a significant uptick in their workload. Expect a slew of job adverts in a few months’ time…
Next steps
June 2026: consultation on ‘healthy screen use’ closes
July 2026: details on overnight curfews and infinite scrolling breaks
Autumn 2026: new guidance for parents on screen time
December 2026: draft regulations to be laid before Parliament
Spring 2027: first set of regulations to be in effect
How can Flux help me?
These regulations could lead to a fundamental change in how online video games can operate, particularly for those that include player-to-player communication functions. Given the pace at which the government is moving (and making new announcements) it’s more important than ever to make sure that you’re up to date with developments and looking ahead to what might happen next.
If you’re looking for monitoring, analysis, or a bit of help with what all this means for you, we can help. Even if you just want to talk this through a bit, we’re happy to chat, no strings attached.
Author: Dr Celia Pontin and Veronica Perez