This is a good announcement from Starmer but, as always, the devil will be in the details.
YouTube, for example, is used by millions of kids to help with school work — links are sent by teachers for homework and research ideas.
That will have to be an immediate carve out but would instantly be challenged by every other platform.
It's very difficult to see how this functions properly in reality.
As the parent of a 12-year-old that has no social media at all, but does use YouTube for promoting his animation, I can see the issue. There are many kids that have their own channels and, in 2026 as long as the parents are monitoring well, shouldn't be a problem.
Too woolly so far, but I need to get across the nuts and bolts of how this works first.
Key details re social media ban
Same model as Australia: ban user-to-user social platforms that use algorithms
So includes platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X but not messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal