{"id":37130,"date":"2026-06-15T12:11:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T10:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=37130"},"modified":"2026-06-15T12:11:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T10:11:24","slug":"britain-announces-sweeping-social-media-ban-for-under-16s","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/britain-announces-sweeping-social-media-ban-for-under-16s\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain announces sweeping social media ban for under-16s"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday he would ban social media \u200csites for under-16s and impose restrictions on gaming and live-streaming platforms, in a fightback against big tech that goes further than any other country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The sweeping changes will &#8220;give kids their childhood back&#8221;, Starmer said, outlining measures against platforms including Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram, as well as gaming sites that allow strangers to communicate with children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8220;It is \u200bclear to me a full ban is the right choice,&#8221; he told a press conference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8220;It will make a huge difference, \u200bit will make our children safer, it will make our children happier, it will give them more time, \u2060more security, more freedom to grow up, more opportunity&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Britain will use a similar model to Australia, which enacted a ban last December, \u200bthe government said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">It will cover platforms that also include YouTube, Facebook and X, but messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal will \u200bnot be included in the ban.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Britain will also introduce &#8220;world-leading blocks&#8221; on\u202fharmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20708,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-37130","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"Ban social media \u200csites for under-16s","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37131,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37130\/revisions\/37131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=37130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}