Starmer bold action on child online safety rules

Keir Starmer’s promise of bold action on child online safety now collides with the practical problem that has dogged every previous pledge: how to make restrictions work in homes, on major platforms and across services children already use. The government is pushing age limits, curbs on addictive design and tighter controls on risky features, but the question is whether those rules can be enforced with enough accuracy to protect children without creating a new layer of surveillance for families.

The latest consultation on children’s online wellbeing was launched on 2 March 2026 and covers potential age restrictions on social media, gaming sites and AI chatbots, along with limits on addictive design features, risky functionalities and better support for parents and families. In March, ministers said they would test social media bans, time limits and digital curfews in 300 teenage homes. By 25 March, nearly 30,000 parents and children had already responded.

Ministers are leaning on strong public backing. Government consultation data found that 89% of parents and carers of children aged 21 and under who answered the relevant question supported a legal minimum age for social media. Separate government data published last week said 96% agreed social media should have a minimum age of access of at least 16. The same material cites Ofcom figures showing 81% of 10- to 12-year-olds use at least one social media app or site, and 86% have their own account on a social media, messaging or video-sharing platform.

Those numbers explain the pressure on ministers, but they also expose the implementation gap. A legal age limit means little if platforms cannot verify users reliably, and age assurance systems can be bypassed, misfire or push companies toward collecting more personal data than families are comfortable sharing. Ofcom has said tech companies are not doing enough to keep children safe and that there is a gap between what they promise privately and what they do publicly.

The government’s crackdown is building on the Online Safety Act, which received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and, from 25 July 2025, placed legal duties on platforms to protect children online. Ofcom says it can fine non-compliant services up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue and, in the most serious cases, seek court orders to block services. Even so, enforcement is only one part of the challenge: the rules still have to work in the everyday routines of children who move between phones, gaming sites and school-age social lives.

The pressure intensified on 8 June 2026, when the Prime Minister announced plans to force tech companies to make it impossible for children to take, share or view nude images on UK devices, with legislation threatened within three months if companies did not act. Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has urged restrictions on social media by age and on risky features and functionalities unless those harms are removed or genuinely mitigated. Starmer’s test now is not whether he can promise more, but whether the government can turn a fast-moving crackdown into rules that actually hold.