Access to social media will be banned in the UK for users under 16, Keir Starmer has announced, in what he described as “real change for our children and our future”.

“Social media is making children unhappy, it’s making it easier for bullies to harass and abuse them, and it could even be harming their mental health,” he said, setting out plans briefed over the weekend, which will go further than a pioneering ban in Australia.

The plans will involve a ban on all the main social platforms, with separate restrictions on online products not covered by the ban, such as gaming apps, including removing the option to chat to strangers.

“This is not something I do lightly, and I will not present it as cost-free, as if social media has been no better. benefits to young people, because clearly that is wrong,” he said. “But government is always about choices, and it’s clear to me that a total ban is the right choice.”

Starmer announced the ban at a Downing Street press conference, with the audience including a series of campaigners for a ban, including parents who have lost children, whom he thanked.

He said: “I am not prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children, and that is why this ban must happen, and that is why this ban will happen.

“Yes, it’s hard – hard to legislate for, hard to regulate, hard to enforce. That’s why we sought a wide range of views on this. That’s why we listened to people, had a conversation, we looked carefully at the evidence, learned from countries like Australia that are taking similar steps.”

The government said on Sunday that nine in 10 parents backed a minimum age of 16 for accessing the apps in responses supplied to its “growing up in the online world” consultation.