Starmer to issue social media curfew for teenagers in bid to crack down on addictive late-night scrolling

Sixteen and 17-year-olds will face a voluntary overnight social media curfew, automatic shutdowns of infinite scrolling and cuts to AI chatbot use in one of Sir Keir Starmer’s final acts as Prime Minister.

The changes, which are part of Sir Keir’s wider crackdown on children’s social media, will see default settings block access for older teenagers from midnight to 6am.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall will announce that features that keep users hooked, such as endless video reels and algorithmic feeds, will be automatically disabled.

But critics have questioned the effectiveness of the measures and noted that 16- and 17-year-olds can easily turn off these default settings.

Sir Keir’s government announced a social media ban for under-16s last month.

This regulation, expected from next spring, covers platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, but does not include messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal.

The announcement comes days before the Makerfield by-election, but it will be up to contest winner and new prime minister Andy Burnham to hammer out the key details.

Ms Kendall said the latest measures would help ensure that people under 18 who access social media apps for the first time are not suddenly exposed to the most addictive features.

In a statement, the Technology Minister said: “Our consultation has received a clear message from both parents and young people that even though young people gain greater independence at 16, they still need to be protected from the most addictive online features that can have a detrimental effect on their health.

“These measures will be crucial to helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and university, and spend more quality time with family and friends – all of which are essential to building a happy, healthy and fulfilling adult life.

“We want young people to enjoy the benefits of technology while having the tools to make the online world a place where they can thrive.”

According to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Dsit), families taking part in a Government pilot involving more than 300 young people and parents across the UK reported that a nightly curfew helped improve sleep and concentration.

Ms Kendall also wants to introduce new safety measures for children using artificial intelligence.

Dsit said the proposals include requiring people under 18 to take regular breaks when using chatbots and a crackdown on AI services that provide “dangerous, misleading or unverified mental health advice”, with ministers considering banning chatbots that pose a serious threat to children.

New guidance on the safe use of artificial intelligence for children, parents and guardians will be published, and media literacy teaching in schools will be strengthened from September.

This follows a move by the European Union to limit young children’s access to social media in the 27-member bloc; This will be the largest effort yet to protect against online dangers.

Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: “This is another dog’s dinner from Labour.

“Either they think 16 and 17-year-olds should be on social media, or they don’t, but the curfews they can lift won’t produce any results.

“There is no point in having 16-year-olds vote while social media is under curfew.

“They are also deploying AI trainers in schools for the most disadvantaged, while announcing more lessons on dealing with the dangers of AI chatbots.

“They should stop tampering and continue to remove under-16s from social media.”

Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: “These proposed safety measures for 16 and 17-year-olds will go some way to improving young people’s experiences on social media, particularly by having functions such as auto-play and suggesting a default closure and curfew of content.

But offers alone will not be enough.

“Unless followed up with further and stronger measures, these will be a sticky plaster that fails to address addictive design features that lead to more screen time and undermine children’s wellbeing.”

Colette Collins-Walsh, of the 5Rights Foundation, a non-governmental organization campaigning for online safety, said: “Social media bans and curfews merely manage exposure to risk. They do nothing to encourage change in a tech industry built on capturing children’s attention.”

“The government has promised children a good childhood in the digital age. This means making safe and age-appropriate design mandatory for all digital products and services children use at home, at school and everywhere in between.”

Andy Lulham, chief operating officer at online security provider Verifymy, said the default setting of an overnight limit for 16- and 17-year-olds would “technically ask the most from platforms because they will now have to set and apply different rules to three different groups – under-16s will be banned next spring, older teenagers and adults with full, open access.”

“None of this works without strong age assurance. The default can only do its job if the platform reliably knows the user is 16 or 17,” he added.

Speaking after the announcement of the social media ban on children under 16, Sir Keir said: “How to keep children safe online is one of the biggest debates of our time. As a father, I know every parent wants their child to grow up safe and happy.

“This is a choice about whose side we are on: families across the country, or a status quo that doesn’t work? People rightly expect action, and this government will always side with parents and put children first.”

“So we will end a system that is failing our children and take bold action to give every child the best possible start in life.”