UK Proposes Social Media Curfew for Teenagers

Kathmandu. The British government has proposed a curfew on social media use for teenagers aged 16 and 17 from midnight to 6 am. According to the proposal, social media apps like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube will be closed by default for users aged 16 and 17 from 12 am to 6 am.

The government also plans to disable addictive features such as auto-play videos and infinite scroll by default. According to the government, these measures will help improve teenagers' sleep, focus on studies, and increase time spent with family.

However, Ellen Room, who campaigns for children's online safety, commented that the proposal is not sufficient. She believes her 14-year-old son Jules Sweeney died in 2022 due to an online challenge.

She said that such a system would not be effective as teenagers could change the settings and remove the restriction. According to her, this is like giving a 17-year-old a bottle of alcohol and keeping it a little far away, because he can easily pick it up again.

This proposal comes after the British government announced a complete ban on the use of some social media platforms for children under 16 last June. Earlier, Meta had expressed the view that the responsibility for age verification should be taken by device manufacturers rather than social media companies. Apple recently launched a device-level age verification feature in its new versions of iPhone and iPad.

Baroness Kidron, an online safety campaigner, said that the government should ensure that technology companies do not deliver harmful content to children, rather than keeping children away from technology. Online Safety Minister Kanishka Narayan claimed that measures like social media curfew and auto-play would make Britain one of the strictest countries in the world in terms of technology company regulation.

Technology Minister Liz Kendall said these measures would help teenagers get enough sleep, concentrate on their studies, and spend quality time with family and friends. However, Laura Trott, education spokesperson for the opposition Conservative Party, criticized the government's plan, saying that a curfew that teenagers can disable themselves would not achieve any results.

The government has also proposed that service providers should arrange regular breaks for users under 18 to use AI chatbots safely. The government plans to present these proposals to Parliament by the end of 2026 and implement them along with the social media ban for those under 16 from next spring. However, some organizations and experts working in child safety have expressed doubts about whether a midnight social media curfew alone will have the desired effect.