On June 15, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a proposal to ban social media access for children under 16 and enforce stricter age-gating mechanisms. The government aims to protect minors from online harms by requiring mandatory age verification and nudity scanning on devices used in the UK, with opt-out only available through age verification, according to medianama.com.
Signal, a major messaging platform, responded by stating it would exit the UK market rather than compromise user privacy through mandatory verification. Signal President Meredith Whittaker emphasized the company’s opposition to client-side scanning and surveillance disguised as child protection, highlighting the lack of technical details in the government’s proposal. The company views the measures as a threat to privacy guarantees, as reported by medianama.com.
The UK’s proposal follows ongoing debates around online safety and privacy, including the Online Safety Bill, now an Act. The move to ban under-16s from social media access and enforce device-level scanning is part of broader efforts to regulate digital spaces for children. The proposal has sparked concerns among tech companies and privacy advocates about surveillance and the feasibility of enforcing age verification without infringing on user rights, per medianama.com.
The UK government has opened a public consultation on the proposal, inviting feedback on the social media ban and age verification measures. The next steps include reviewing responses before potential legislation is introduced, with the government signaling a firm stance on protecting children online as of June 15, according to medianama.com.