The government has announced it will ban under-16s from accessing certain social media platforms (Alamy)
5 min read
Labour MP Josh Dean, one of the UK’s youngest MPs, has said the government’s ban on social media for under-16s is going to “create more problems” for young people rather than making them safer.
The MP for Hertford and Stortford told PoliticsHome that young people would inevitably find a way to circumvent the new laws, which Starmer said would be in place by spring 2027, and warned that harmful new websites would be created as alternatives to platforms impacted by the ban.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed on Monday morning that the government will ban certain major social media platforms for under-16s, after months of building pressure from campaigners and some Labour MPs. The opposition Conservative Party had also been pushing for a ban.
“I will not be prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children,” the PM said in a Downing Street press conference.
At 26 years old, Dean is the second-youngest MP serving in Parliament, having been elected in the 2024 general election aged 24. He told PoliticsHome he was “disappointed” in the government’s announcement, as he believes that a social media ban for under-16s is “missing the point” on how to protect young people.
“We’re missing an opportunity to regulate these platforms and hold the tech companies to account,” he said.
“My fear is, as it’s always been, that we’re putting the onus, the responsibility for the harms of the online world onto young people.”
He said that the vast majority of parliamentarians can remember a time before social media, while today’s generation of young people cannot.
“They’ve grown up with their lives intertwined with it, and I’m one of the few MPs that has as well,” he said.
“So much of this has become about people in Parliament deciding what childhood should be and not engaging young people on how we find the right balance for them.”
PoliticsHome understands that several online safety advocacy groups are frustrated that they spent significant time feeding into the consultation, only to then feel that the government has rushed out an announcement for political reasons. The consultation ran from early March to late May.
There are questions over how much longer Starmer has in No 10, with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham expected to launch a bid to replace him if he wins the Makerfield by-election on Thursday.
Dean described the consultation as “positive” but said that the views of young people hadn’t been given enough attention.
“We need to be listening to the young people who are telling us that they don’t think this is going to work and that there are other measures that we can be taking to get this right.”
Dean said he was concerned that digitally literate young people would find their way around platform-specific bans, and poorly regulated alternatives would start to pop up to fill the space left by the larger platforms.
“It’s going to leave the regulator desperately struggling to catch up and close them down,” he said.
“I’m worried that this approach is actually going to create more problems for those of us who want to keep young people safe rather than actually solve the problems that we’re concerned about.”
As one of the few current MPs who grew up with social media, Dean said he wants to work “constructively” with the government to “really engage with this issue, to reset young people’s relationships with the online world and hold the big tech companies to account in a way that I haven’t seen in my lifetime before”.
“We need to go after the features and functionalities, which I think is where the real action is, and we need to bring young people with us, so I want to work with the government to make sure we take advantage of that opportunity.”
The proposals for the ban will include restrictions on specific platforms for under-16s, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, as well as restrictions on gaming services, live streaming platforms, and stranger communication. Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal will not be banned for children.
Further announcements are expected about night-time social media curfews for 16-and 17-year-olds in the coming weeks.
Starmer said the ban, similar to the one implemented in Australia last year, was “not something I do lightly” and isn’t “cost-free”. He said the government would “move at speed” to introduce the necessary legislation with the aim of the ban coming into effect in the early part of next year.
While Starmer was believed to have been initially sceptical about hardline measures like Australia’s ban, he told reporters on Monday that he had reached this decision “having looked at the evidence, having gone through the consultation, having looked at what happened in other countries, having listened to parents, listened hard”.
The government has said that nine in ten parents who responded to its consultation backed a minimum age of 16 for accessing social media platforms. Around 83 per cent said they believed the risks presented by social media outweighed the benefits.
At the same time, opinion polling has consistently found strong public support for an under-16 social media ban.
Starmer said he did not accept the argument that an under-16 social media ban is not worthwhile because some children will get around it, saying it would be like opposing drinking laws because underage people sometimes drink alcohol.
