UK's 'Australia-Plus' Social Media Ban for Under-16s: Timeline, Platforms, and Age Verification

The UK government is preparing to announce one of the most aggressive social media restrictions in the world, targeting anyone under the age of 16. Dubbed the "Australia-plus" model, the plan goes beyond Australia's blanket ban by specifically targeting high-risk platforms and threatening company executives with criminal sanctions. An official announcement is expected within days, following a massive public consultation that saw nearly 30,000 responses .

What Is the 'Australia-Plus' Model?

The centerpiece of the UK's plan is a ban on under-16s accessing "high-risk" social media apps. Unlike Australia's first-of-its-kind blanket ban that covers all major social media platforms, the UK approach is more surgical. It zeroes in on services that use algorithmically curated feeds, private messaging, and other features deemed harmful to children .

Tech Secretary Liz Kendall has described two main options that were on the table: a complete blanket ban or feature-specific restrictions. The government has settled on a middle ground, imposing a ban on high-risk platforms while allowing safer services to remain available . The plan has been branded "Australia-plus" because it adds criminal liability for tech executives, going further than Australia's civil penalties .

Announcement Timeline: When Will the Ban Be Announced?

The policy has moved from consultation to imminent action through a rapid series of milestones:

• January 2026: The government launched a consultation on children's digital wellbeing alongside new powers for Ofsted to police school phone bans .
• March 2026: A wider "landmark consultation" opened, exploring age bans, digital curfews, AI chatbot restrictions, and gaming safeguards. Nearly 30,000 parents and children responded by the 26 May deadline .
• Late May 2026: As the consultation closed, PM Keir Starmer promised to act "very quickly" on the findings. Tech Secretary Liz Kendall confirmed new regulations would be in force by the end of 2026 .
• June 2026: Multiple reports indicate Starmer is ready to announce the ban within days of mid-June, potentially before the Makerfield by-election on 18 June .

Which Platforms Will Be Affected?

The ban won't catch every social media service. It specifically targets platforms whose core features create a high-risk environment for young users. According to government insiders, the restrictions will apply to apps where algorithmically-driven content feeds are the main draw .

Platforms likely to be targeted:

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Snapchat

Services that rely on algorithmic recommendations, public content discovery, or private messaging with strangers are expected to be classified as high-risk. Police leaders have also specifically urged restrictions on platforms that allow contact with strangers, recommend harmful material, or enable sharing of nude images .

What about other services?
Platforms considered lower risk—such as basic messaging apps without algorithmic feeds, or purely educational platforms—are likely to be exempt. The tech regulator Ofcom will set the final list of restricted platforms .

In addition, an outright ban on romantic or sexual AI chatbots for under-18s will be included in the package .

How Will Age Be Verified?

Enforcing the ban hinges on proving a user's age without creating massive privacy problems. The UK already has a framework for this under the Online Safety Act, where Ofcom defines what it calls highly effective age assurance (HEAA). These methods will be adapted for the social media ban .

Facial Age Estimation

This is the headline technology. Users take a live selfie, and AI estimates their age by analyzing facial features. Crucially, Ofcom has specified that platforms must confirm age "without collecting or storing personal data, unless absolutely necessary"—the full image is not saved, and no identity is recorded . However, Ofcom's own CEO, Dame Melanie Dawes, has previously expressed doubts about the technology's reliability for young teenagers, noting it has more difficulty estimating ages around the 13-16 range .

Photo ID Matching

Users would upload a government-issued ID like a passport or driving licence. This method is highly reliable but raises more privacy concerns because it directly identifies the user. Critics argue it effectively forces all users—including adults—to submit sensitive documents to use social media .

Credit Card Checks

Using payment card details as an age proxy is already an approved method for adult content sites in the UK. It verifies that a user is old enough to hold a credit card, though it may not be practical for families where teenagers have access to a parent's card .

Device-Level Checks

The government has also explored requiring Apple, Google, and other device manufacturers to verify age at the operating system or app store level. This would prevent social media apps from being installed at all if the device's primary user is under 16, potentially offering a more seamless—but equally privacy-invasive—solution .

The Privacy and Enforceability Problem

The push for age verification has ignited fierce debate among digital rights groups, child safety charities, and international governments.

Civil liberties groups warn that the ban amounts to building a mass age-verification system for the entire internet. The Open Rights Group (ORG) argues that age-gating at this scale would drag millions of adults into proving their age, creating "serious risks to privacy, data protection, and freedom of expression" . The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has labeled such measures a "growing global threat," arguing that there is no truly effective and privacy-respecting age verification method .

Child safety charities are split on the issue. The Molly Rose Foundation warned that a rushed ban could "unravel," leaving families with a false sense of security from poorly implemented technology . The NSPCC, Childnet, and the 5Rights Foundation have all opposed blanket bans, arguing they could "drive children to unregulated corners of the internet" and cut them off from vital support networks .

Enforceability remains a major question mark. Critics point out that determined teenagers can use VPNs, borrow devices from older friends, or simply migrate to platforms not covered by the ban. Facial age estimation technology is not perfectly accurate close to the age boundary of 16, creating risks of both false rejections for older teens and false approvals for younger users .

International pressure has also surfaced. The White House formally urged the UK not to proceed, arguing the ban would place an "unequal burden on American technology companies" and that "technical measures to enforce age restrictions for 13-16 year olds are unlikely to be effective" .

How Does the UK Plan Compare to Australia's Ban?

Australia's ban took effect on 10 December 2025, making it the world's first comprehensive social media restriction for minors. In the first two days alone, over 4.7 million accounts held by under-16s were deactivated across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat .

Here's how the two approaches stack up:

Feature	UK (Planned)	Australia (Active)
Age Threshold	Under 16	Under 16
Scope	Targeted: high-risk platforms only (e.g., TikTok, Instagram)	Broad: all major social media (10 platforms including YouTube, X, Reddit)
Enforcement Body	Ofcom (criminal sanctions possible)	eSafety Commissioner (civil penalties)
Penalties	Criminal liability for tech executives	Fines up to A$49.5 million for platforms
Exemptions	Likely for low-risk messaging and educational platforms	No platform-specific exemptions
Age Verification	Facial estimation, photo ID, credit card checks, possible device-level checks	Platforms required to take "reasonable steps" (method not prescribed)

Key Differences: Australia's ban is broader in scope—it simply blocks under-16s from all designated platforms. The UK's approach is more surgical, aiming to cut off harmful algorithmic feeds while preserving safer services. However, the UK's threat of criminal sanctions—which could include jail time for senior executives—represents a significant escalation in how governments can pressure tech companies beyond financial penalties .

What Comes Next?

The road to implementation remains complex. Following the imminent announcement, Ofcom will need to formally designate which platforms are "high-risk" and issue detailed compliance codes. The government has committed to having regulations in force by the end of 2026, but full enforcement for all designated platforms is expected to be phased in through 2027 .

While the UK studies Australia's real-world experience—where millions of accounts were removed within days of the ban starting—the debate over whether prohibition genuinely protects children or merely pushes risk elsewhere will continue to shape the final details of the policy .