The UK Just Banned Kids From X — And the Internet Is Not Okay With It

PM Keir Starmer confirmed it on June 15: children under 16 in the UK will be banned from X, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat. Effective spring 2027. Platforms that don't comply face multi-million pound fines.

Over 116,000 people responded to the public consultation — the second-highest response to any UK government consultation ever, behind same-sex marriage in 2012. More than 90% of parents backed the ban.

But on X itself? Very different numbers.

UK Parliament is also lowering the voting age to 16 starting 2027. That means a 16-year-old will be trusted to choose the next Prime Minister — but banned from the platforms where most political debate happens. FT columnist Stephen Bush called it "simply a mess." Tories called it hypocrisy; Labour voted against a ban three times before backing it. 2

YouTube warned the ban will push teens "towards anonymous, less-safe services." Meta said it would "isolate teens from online communities." The Open Rights Group flagged that age verification means ordinary adults handing over passports, biometric data, or facial scans just to stay on social media. 3

The American Embassy in London released a statement saying regulations should not "violate free speech protections" or place greater burdens on American tech companies. Starmer said he would discuss it with Trump at the G7 summit in France — and wasn't worried. 1

Esther Ghey, whose 16-year-old daughter Brianna was killed in 2023 by two teens who had accessed harmful content online, said the ban "could potentially save so many children's lives." Ellen Roome, whose son died in 2022, called Starmer's speech "phenomenal." 2

Australia passed its version of this ban in November 2025. Six months in, 6 in 10 Australian under-16s are reportedly still on social media — because teens found workarounds and platforms failed to enforce it. Reform UK's Robert Jenrick called the UK plan "very likely to fail." Cambridge professor Jon Crowcroft said: "There is a real risk this will drive some users to worse sites."

Starmer's answer: "It's ridiculous to argue the ban is pointless because some teenagers might get around it."

The ban covers X explicitly. The platform's owner runs SpaceX, which just had the largest IPO in history. Accounts on X are calling the ban everything from "necessary" to "a Trojan horse for digital surveillance." Nobody is quiet about it.