British police agencies back social media ban for under-16s

Britain's National Crime Agency and National Police Chiefs' Council have called for a ban on social media for children under 16 unless platforms change certain features. The agencies said technology companies have not made child safety a core design principle.

The National Crime Agency stated that the online environment is not safe for children. Officials identified six high-risk features including mass discoverability of children, unrestricted contact from unknown adults, encrypted messaging, algorithms that promote harmful content, nude image sharing, and weak age verification.

Agency recommendations The agencies proposed that the government ban under-16s from platforms that do not change these features. They also called for legislation to introduce nudity controls on devices for children under 18 and to give Ofcom more power to enforce age verification.

The National Police Chiefs' Council described the online world as a Wild West where criminals can operate without sufficient oversight. Officials said the decision to back a ban was regrettable but necessary.

Consultation timeline The government's public consultation on a possible ban closes on May 26. The consultation invited comments from young people and their parents and guardians. Last year the National Crime Agency received 92,000 reports of potential child sexual abuse activity online from tech companies.

The agency estimates there are between 710,000 and 840,000 adults in the UK who pose some degree of sexual risk to children. Officials from both agencies said enforcement of any ban should not focus on criminalising children or parents. They stated they want to create avenues for reporting abuse and to protect children online.