Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to call time “on a system” failing children online,as the government prepares to ban under 16s from accessing “high risk” social media apps.

Starmer will announce sweeping reforms to protect children online at a press conference on Monday.

Teenagers under 16 are to be banned from accessing such apps while safer platforms will be subjected to restrictions under a widespread government crackdown, with minister set to outline which platforms face a ban at a later date.

This follows Australia’s example in raising the minimum age to 16 on sites including Instagram, X and TikTok.

But the ban will reportedly go further, with under-18s also expected to be banned from using romantic or sexual AI chatbots after a consultation on keeping children safe online.

Children could also be blocked from chatting to strangers on gaming

The measures to be announced by the prime minister include restrictions on “safe” social media apps, meaning under-16s will be banned from receiving or using disappearing messages, chats with adult strangers, and livestreaming.

Starmer said: “How we keep kids safe online is one of the biggest debates of our time. As a dad, I know every parent wants their child to grow up safe and happy.

“This is a choice about whose side we’re on. Families across the country, or a status quo that isn’t working.

“People rightly expect action, and this government will always stand up for parents and put children first.

“That’s why we will call time on a system that’s failing our kids and take bold action to give every child the best possible start in life.”

Rapid action

The government has set out its response just weeks after the consultation closed, receiving over 116,000 response from parents, industry figures and young people.

Nine out of ten backed a blanket social media ban for under-16s, while over 83 per cent said the risks of social media outweighed the benefits.

The action comes after Starmer issued a three-month ultimatum to Apple and Google last week to make it technologically impossible for children to take, share or view intimate images online.

Speaking at London Tech Week, he said: “One issue is the ability for children with phones to send and receive nude images.

“For too long people have been told that is simply the price of modern tech, that nothing can be done, that government is powerless, that parents just have to accept it.”

“I reject that completely because tech should adapt to the needs of society, not the other way around.”

Starmer called on tech companies operating in Britain to introduce controls preventing children from sending and receiving sexually explicit images, adding that legislation would follow if firms failed to act voluntarily.

The actions also come after culture secretary Lisa Nandy said banning social media for under-16s on its own is not “the silver bullet solution” but should be part of a “basket of measures” to protect children online.

Speaking with the BBC on Sunday morning, Nandy declined to pre-empt Starmer’s announcement but confirmed the government’s consultation was launched with a “question of how we better protect young people online, not if we do so”.

She said: “The responses to the consultation were overwhelmingly clear.

“Not everybody wanted to see a social media ban for under-16s, but the vast majority of people who responded did.

Looking at Australia

“That came through not just from parents and from campaigners, it did also come through from many young people themselves who are feeling that they’re being pulled into something quite toxic at a very young age.”

She added that Australia’s experience showed that while ban would not prevent all young people from accessing social media platforms it could shift the expectation that children who have yet to reach teenage years and are not “emotionally equipped” to be on such platforms do not feel pressure to join.

She said: “I don’t think banning social media on its own is the silver bullet solution, but I do think Australia has shown very clearly that it has a significant role to play.”

But she signalled the UK could impose more stringent age checks than Australia, where concerns have grown that some under-16s have bypassed the ban through using VPNS or creating accounts by faking their date of birth.

Nandy added: “The experience in Australia showed part of the reason why it has been difficult for them to enforce it is because there weren’t very tough age verification measures.

“That’s one of the things that we’re looking at and the Prime Minister will say more about tomorrow.”