The White House has urged the UK not to impose a social media ban for under-16s, saying such restrictions could impose a \u201cdisproportionate\u201d burden on US tech firms.<\/p>\n
In a submission to a government consultation on online safety, the US government came out against \u201cprescribed one-size-fits-all government restrictions\u201d and \u201cblunt regulatory instruments\u201d to address online harms to children.<\/p>\n
The notice, published by the US embassy in London<\/a>, added that age-gating for 13- to 16-year-olds would not work. \u201cTechnical methods developed to distinguish minors from adults cannot simply be repurposed for younger thresholds,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Instead, the Trump administration<\/a> called on the UK to give parents \u201crobust tools\u201d to manage their children\u2019s privacy settings and account controls, as well as requiring platforms to offer a healthy online experience \u201crather than outright bans\u201d.<\/p>\n The UK approach to online safety has been a source of tension<\/a> between the White House and Downing Street, with the Online Safety Act in particular attracting criticism from across the Atlantic because of free speech concerns. JD Vance, the US vice-president, has said free speech in the UK is \u201cin retreat\u201d, while one senior Republican congressman described the act as the \u201cUK\u2019s online censorship law\u201d.<\/p>\n The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, is expected to announce a ban on \u201charmful\u201d social media apps next week, alongside a range of restrictive measures<\/a>, including the possibility of blocks on conversations with strangers on gaming platforms. Limits on AI chatbot use are also under consideration.<\/p>\n It is not known what \u201charmful\u201d apps will be banned but there are expected to be exemptions for \u201ceducational\u201d platforms amid reports that YouTube Kids could be carved out of a ban. In Australia<\/a>, there is a blanket ban<\/a> on under-16s accessing social media, meaning popular platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are blocked.<\/p>\n The White House has expressed concern that the UK and EU are taking a legislative and regulatory path that singles out US tech firms. The US embassy notice said: \u201cWe have concerns about regulations that impose disproportionate compliance burdens on American companies or that apply to one platform but not similar services.\u201d<\/p>\n The government has promised to move fast on implementing the safety consultation\u2019s findings. \u201cWe\u2019ve been clear we are determined to act quickly, but we will do so in a way that is effective, enforceable and genuinely keeps children safe,\u201d a government spokesperson said.<\/p>\n However, it is understood that ministers are mindful of the threat of a judicial review of the process.<\/p>\n Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram \u2013 platforms that will be affected by the outcome of the consultation \u2013 is already seeking a judicial review of one aspect of the Online Safety Act. It has launched a legal challenge<\/a> against the UK\u2019s media regulator over the fees and fines regime it is enforcing under the act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The White House has urged the UK not to impose a social media ban for under-16s, saying such…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-629055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}