On Monday, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a sweeping ban on social media for children under the age of 16. The ban effectively blocks kids under 16 from having profiles on or using Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. This ban apparently does not affect WhatsApp or Signal, probably because those are more direct communication/texting apps. Obviously, this is exactly the kind of social-media ban for which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have advocated for years now. A huge chunk of their Archewell work has been about raising the alert about kids using social media, from their formation of The Parents Network to their work on the Lost Screen Memorial. The Sussexes released a statement about the UK ban:
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are reacting to big news in the U.K. involving youth and technology. On June 15, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a statement praising British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement that young people under age 16 will be banned from major social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
“We welcome the U.K. Government’s announcement of new measures to better protect children online,” began the statement from Prince Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, about the monumental decision in his home country.
“The stories shared through The Lost Screen Memorial remind us that behind every debate about technology and regulation are real families whose lives have been forever changed,” the couple continued, referring to The Lost Screen Memorial from their charity, Archewell Philanthropies. “While measures such as these may help reduce harm, they do not fix the problem at its source. Lasting change requires safer platforms by design, meaningful accountability, and a commitment to putting children’s wellbeing ahead of engagement and profit.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex argued that “The burden cannot rest solely on parents and children” and the responsibility of safer tech “must also be borne by the companies.” The couple are parents to two young children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
“Until then, every day without meaningful change is another day that children remain exposed to preventable harm,” they said. “Stronger protections are better than inaction, and today’s announcement is a welcome step forward.”
Harry and Meghan responded on the same day that British premier Starmer announced the decision, which the Associated Press reported is expected to take effect next year. The move puts the U.K. on track to join Australia, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia in introducing such legislation or regulating children’s access to online content, and Britain’s ban will apply to TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, X and YouTube.
I agree with Harry and Meghan – while it’s good to see the British and Australian governments try to directly deal with a massive threat to public health and safety, the social media “poison” continues to be made. The onus should be on these companies to change their policies and their algorithms and everything else. Why can’t governments regulate what is, in essence, the Wild West of social media?
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.
-
- Melbourne, AUSTRALIA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle take part in an educational Aboriginal walk on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 APRIL 2026 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- Melbourne, AUSTRALIA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle take part in an educational Aboriginal walk on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 APRIL 2026 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Melbourne, Victoria, for a visit to Batyr, a mental health engagement programme, on day three of the royal trip to Australia Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Melbourne, Australia When: 16 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Duchess of Sussex meets young advocates during a visit to Batyr, a mental health engagement programme, at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Melbourne, Victoria, on day three of the royal trip to Australia Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Melbourne, Australia When: 16 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Duchess of Sussex talks to young advocates during a visit to Batyr, a mental health engagement programme, at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Melbourne, Victoria, on day three of the royal trip to Australia Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Melbourne, Australia When: 16 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- The Duke of Sussex delivers the keynote speech at the InterEdge Summit, at Centrepiece in Melbourne Park, Victoria on day three of the royal trip to Australia Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Melbourne, Australia When: 16 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
The companies have made billions off of young people, a major chunk of their ad revenue – if getting those consumers back means changing their policies, they’ll do it (or pretend to do it).
There should be regulation of the SM companies’ behaviour, not banning access to teens. This is just a fig leaf to let the foxes ‘guard’ the henhouse with impunity.
They know who buys the bots, they know they could control and outright stop the algorithms pushing vile content, they know exactly what they’re doing and then pretend to fix it by saying ’think of the children’. The goal is hemming the young from independently learning about world events and the global community, not their safety’.
H&M have been personally targeted by SM manipulation against them and their children, I don’t fault them for their support of this ban but it is a short sighted, cynical power grab rather than true assistance to this SM problem.
It’s heavy-handed, but with the immense amount of money behind social media, more nuanced regulation would take forever. Everybody has a different view of and capacity for social consciousness, but these corporations all have the same view about money – they want it, and more of it. Cutting them off from a significant consumer base (maybe 33% or more of ad revenue for TikTok world wide) is a real message. I don’t know how this will work or be enforced, it’ll be interesting to see.
I tend to agree. Also: how will this ban be implemented? Another way for these companies to collect our data?
Yes. The “algo’s” need to go. Just because I looked at something once does not mean that’s all I want to see.
I’m curious to see how this will go. Bc I cannot imagine teenagers won’t hack a work around. Or that these companies won’t be encouraging them to do so.
There’s always a work around, as for alcohol, vapes, tobacco, etc, but boundary setting is really important and sends the right message. Hopefully, this will also encourage tech bros to do safety by design.
I am happy to see some countries are taking action.. wish ours was but government here is now for the corporations and monopolies not the people anymore. I feel blessed that I did not have to parent this issue, my children were at university when fb was first invented and the users had to have a university email address to use it. I left all
Platforms and after the first few weeks I didn’t miss it at all.
I, too, am grateful that I haven’t had to pilot children through the shark-infested waters of early social media development.
I, on the other hand, as an adult, have found it to be a marvelous new part of my life. Fifteen plus years ago, I started publishing my writing and sharing the writing and art of others on SM platforms.
It has totally revitalized my life as a working writer, and I could not be happier about it.
That said, I too would like to see SM regulated, rather than left to spoil everything it touches in the name of corporate greed.
Sorry, but I cannot get behind a total ban. I absolutely understand that this is a serious issue, but it’s too complex for a blanket ban to be the answer. Social media is not just a sewer, with no redeeming features. It can and does provide a way for children with disabilities to not feel so isolated, and for kids with ASD to find community and a way to communicate on their own terms. And there are so, so many LGBTQIA+ kids, including those who live in rural or very conservative areas, or have super religious parents, who have found acceptance primarily through interacting with kids like themselves on social media. Also, bans without additional educational measures (which few of them seem to address) — especially if they go all the way up to 16, when VOTING is allowed in a handful of places, and I believe that the EU has at least endorsed lowering it to that age — are doing nothing to prepare kids for the adults they are rapidly growing into. Unless they’re learning to spot disinformation, or how to have a healthy relationship with gaming, or other addictive online behaviors like doomscrolling, they’re not going to be equipped for adulthood. Maybe a ban for under 12s, or even 14, could be somewhat sensible, but not 16.
And then there’s the fact that, you know, kids aren’t idiots. They WILL find workarounds (in Australia, most apparently have).
I understand that many parents have, or believe they have, actually lost their children to social media-related incidents. Harry and Meghan have obviously been slandered and bullied and trolled within an inch of their lives (literally, in Meghan’s case), and have every reason to be concerned about what their own children have faced and will continue to face. And of course we need to address bullying, and kill the algorithms, and restrict how companies can target kids. If parents are particularly worried, “dumb phones” are an option.
I totally agree, and have been against the ban since the start. Social media is an indisputable part of life now, and a blanket ban on certain services will not address any of the issues, particularly those of bullying and harassment amongst teenagers. My niece’s school has had multiple instances of cyber bullying, all of which took place on whatsapp, which is not part of the ban! This is about control, pure and simple, not protecting the vulnerable. Social media is how most people, especially young people, get their political information, and denying kids that access while they’re growing and developing their political opinions is a massive misstep.
@Miranda Completely agree and I have seen a lot of LGBTQIA activist folks in particular expressing real concern about this type of legislation. I don’t know the answer but it seems like this kind of measure could lead to a different kind of harm rather than remove harm altogether.
Agreed. I can’t get past the ban either, because it’s a back door for them having additional surveillance on adults. Because I as an adult, will have to sign into various media and match them to my real life to show that I’m an adult.
Ehhh. Nope.
Honestly I wish that everyone would stop using SM to address real issues with those with mental health, disability, etc. I just went to an event in DC and a lot of older activists in the LGBTIA+ community brought up that SM has made people more isolated and unable to cope with others in real world settings. That many people don’t have the ability to build connections. I don’t know. I think COVID-19 really did a number on a lot of people worldwide and everyone did think thoughtfully of how to use SM to stay in touch with friends and families. But someone scrolling for 3 plus hours when they should be sleeping, or rage fighting with someone on a forum is just a lot. And I can see how for teens it makes them even more vulnerable.
Social media isn’t an indisputable part of life. You can choose not to use it. Whatever good is there, the evil is much bigger. A ban is better than nothing and regulation isn’t coming, sadly.