The Prime Minister has vowed to act “very, very quickly” following the conclusion of the Government’s consultation on keeping children safe online on 26 May 2026, signalling that restrictions on children’s use of social media could be introduced imminently.

We have commented previously on the consultation here. It explores a range of possible measures to “protect young people’s wellbeing and ensure safer online experiences”, including raising the age of digital consent, a blanket ban on social media for under 16s, ‘phone curfews’ and removing or limiting potentially addictive design features such as so-called ‘infinite scrolling’.

Prior to the consultation’s closing date, charities, politicians and campaigners published their responses to it, some cautioning against a blanket ban, others expressing firm support for it. Adding its voice to the latter group was the Education Committee, which published its response, calling not only for a ban on social media use for under 16s and on addictive features for under 18s, but also arguing that these should form the basis of a new “risk-based and age-appropriate regulatory framework that applies consistently across social media, gaming and hybrid platforms, private messaging sites and AI chatbots, including sites and platforms widely used by children”.

The Committee also argued that the Government should treat online harms to children “explicitly as a safeguarding and public health issue, rather than relying on content moderation and reactive reporting systems”, noting that the existing regulatory response to social media companies is insufficient and that the Government should use powers available to it to “impose clear, enforceable duties on platforms to prioritise child safety by design, backed by meaningful sanctions for non-compliance”.

The Government’s response to the consultation is expected this summer. As we have discussed previously here, the Government intends to act quickly on any of the consultation’s findings, having introduced powers so that it can act “within months”. Recent reports in the press reinforce that sense of urgency, suggesting that restrictions could be introduced within weeks and in force by the end of the year. However, there remains disagreement over what form those restrictions should take, as well as concern that the consultation process must be followed carefully if any resulting measures are to withstand future legal challenge.

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