Ministers in the UK are preparing the ground for new rules that would keep under-16s off major social media platforms, with the strongest surveillance age checks yet, such as passports, driving licenses, credit checks, or facial age estimation.
This latest attempt at a ban on children using social media comes after evidence that a similar one in Australia has been widely circumvented.
The new rules will still apply to platforms that use infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications and unsolicited contact, and are expected to take effect in the spring of 2027.
Among those that will be targeted include Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, and X.
Everyone opening a new account will have to go through either facial recognition or upload their ID.
The government’s fact sheet about the plan is heavy on platitudes, such as the need to protect children from online harm, but also tries to address the question of how exactly the new rules will affect adults.
Proving you are over 18 “could be as simple as a facial recognition check,” the document says.
The rules are being introduced as secondary legislation under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026.
The fact that the rules apply to websites rather than users means that those who want to access social media will be able to do so using a VPN, and this is expected to lead to a new wave of VPN adoption.
When the UK introduced age checks for adult sites in July 2025, some VPN providers reported a 1,800% spike in signups.
