UK proposes a midnight social media curfew for older teens

The UK government has proposed a midnight social media curfew for 16 and 17-year-olds, plus limits on infinite scrolling. The UK social media curfew would switch on by default, though teens could turn it off.

The government set out the measures on Wednesday, as CNBC first reported. It said the plan aims to protect older teens as scrutiny of tech giants grows.

Under the proposal, 16 and 17-year-olds would face a default overnight curfew from midnight to 6am. Addictive features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay would switch off automatically. Teens could turn the settings back on, the government said.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the plan followed a clear message from parents and teenagers. “Even as young people gain greater independence at 16, they should still be protected from the most addictive online features that can have a harmful impact on their wellbeing,” she said.

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Kendall said the measures would help young people get more sleep, focus on school, and spend more time with family and friends. The first regulations would go before Parliament by the end of this year. The government expects them to come into force by spring 2027.

What the trial found

The plan follows a government pilot on social media restrictions. It involved more than 300 teens and parents across the UK and ran for a month.

Teens tested three interventions. One capped app use at 15 minutes a day. Another set an overnight curfew between 9pm and 7am. A third removed specific apps entirely.

The government said participants reported a range of mental health benefits. Those included improved mood, reduced stress, and better daytime energy. Teens also noted a “social and emotional trade-off,” because social media is central to how they talk to friends.

As a result, the overnight curfew was the most favoured option. The government said it balanced the health benefits with teens’ social needs.

New rules for AI chatbots

Kendall said she also intends to bring forward a separate package on AI chatbots. It would include regular breaks for under-18s who use them.

The government said it would also target chatbots that give dangerous, misleading, or unverified mental health advice. Ministers would weigh all options, it said, including banning chatbots that pose a serious threat to children. The plans follow earlier signals that the rules could reach further, into gaming and AI.

Part of a wider crackdown

The proposal builds on a broader UK push. In June, the outgoing prime minister Keir Starmer announced a blanket social media ban for under-16s. The government says the new curfew would prevent a “cliff edge” as those teens grow up.

That ban followed Australia, which became the first country to enforce a legal ban in December. The UK ban would apply to Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and X.

Industry and the EU

Governments elsewhere are moving in the same direction. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that the bloc would press ahead with age restrictions on social media. She said it would explore an age limit for platforms.

“Social media is not a toy,” von der Leyen said. She added that “parents bring up our kids, and not predatory algorithms.” The EU has separately said infinite scroll and autoplay breach its rules.

Platforms have defended their existing safeguards. Ali Law, TikTok’s director of public policy in Northern Europe, told CNBC the app was built with safety in mind. He said TikTok had more than 50 preset safety settings for under-16s, including a one-hour screen time limit and a 10pm break prompt.

“All of these are little default aspects, little nudges to make sure that people have a balanced and healthy relationship with our app,” Law said on “Squawk Box Europe.” He added that TikTok spent $2 billion on trust and safety last year. The company has also settled a social media addiction case.