The government has said it will ban under-16s from all of the main social media apps, because tech companies have failed to make their products safe for children.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer made the announcement on Monday. The ban doesn’t include WhatsApp, but the PM said it would include digital curfews and will cover features such as infinite scrolling and some adult features of chatbots. Children will be banned from livestreaming themselves, but will still be able to play multiplayer games. The new rules will also prevent unknown users contacting children.

“Social media is making children unhappy… exposing them to content that is dangerous,” the prime minister said. “It stops children doing their homework, reading, playing with their friends outside, going to bed at a decent hour.”

The government says that the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, which became law earlier this year, means that it already has the powers to set new rules for tech companies. It says this means that “change can happen fast,” but also said that the new rules won’t come into force until spring 2027.

Officials had earlier said that a ban was backed by more than nine out of ten parents who took part in the Growing Up In An Online World consultation, which ended on 26 May. More than 116,000 people shared their thoughts, including 54,000 parents and 14,000 young people aged 10-21.

The responses showed how many problems within families can be caused by social media, as three-quarters of parents said that a ban would mean fewer arguments in the home.

Australia was the first country to ban young people from social media, but tech-savvy kids have been able to get around it. In April, it was revealed that more than three in five (61%) kids aged 12-15 still had access to at least one of their accounts. However, the government says that it has learned lessons from Australia’s ban, and that the UK would “make it harder” for children to get past the new protections.