Britain proposes midnight-to-dawn social media limits for 16- and 17-year-olds

LONDON (AP) – Britain’s government on Wednesday outlined proposals for a six-hour overnight social media curfew aimed at 16- and 17-year-olds, running from midnight, while allowing those teens to turn the default off if they choose.

As part of its wider push to curb online harm to young people, the Labour administration also said tools that prolong scrolling — among them clips that play automatically in sequence — would be disabled by default for that age group.

The package follows, by about a month, an announced ban on social media for children under 16. That ban is expected to apply from next spring to services such as Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, while excluding messaging apps including WhatsApp and Signal.

Parliament must still pass the new rules into law. They rank among the last major steps associated with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government, and Andy Burnham, widely seen as his likely successor, is generally expected to keep the agenda moving.

Online Safety Minister Kanishka Narayan rejected suggestions that optional curfews would simply be disabled by teens, calling that view a “disservice” to them. He cited a recent UK pilot with more than 300 teenagers and parents in which overnight social media use fell sharply and sleep and focus improved.

“In October, for example, some platforms introduced these defaults of this sort – 90 per cent-plus teenagers said to us that they've maintained those defaults as well,” he told Sky News. “And so the evidence base is clear, the motivation is very clear and I wouldn't do the disservice to teenagers of saying they're all going to switch it off.”

Conservative education spokesperson Laura Trott said the plan makes “no sense”.

“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,” she said.

The NSPCC, Britain’s leading children’s charity, argued the steps would help somewhat for young people’s online experience but would not suffice alone.

“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,” said NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood.

Rachel de Souza, England’s Children’s Commissioner, called the announcement a “positive step”, noting that many young people want to reduce social media use yet struggle to do so.

“I want to know more about how the policies, such as a curfew, will be delivered and will be watching closely to make sure they are effective,” she said.