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The government has announced that the UK ban on under-16s using social media platforms will start in March 2027. Tech companies will be required to implement tougher age checks as part the process. While the government seeks to protect children from harm, the move has science communicators who post educational videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok worried, as they fear it will restrict young people\u2019s access to science.<\/p>\n
The government insists that under-16s will still be able to access the online world for learning and news, although live streaming and communicating with strangers will be switched off. \u2018We\u2019re not looking to bring dedicated educational platforms, which support schoolwork and learning, under these new rules,\u2019 the government notes in a fact sheet on the ban<\/a>. \u2018At the same time, platforms have a clear opportunity to create spaces for children that prioritise safe, educational content without those risks.\u2019 However, it\u2019s not yet clear how exemptions will work.<\/p>\n In 2025, children aged four to 15 spent an average of 8 hours 45 minutes per week watching video\u2011sharing platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok, according to OfCom<\/a>. Of those children aged three to 17 who watched videos on apps or sites, 42% watched them to help with schoolwork and homework. However, this varied between socioeconomic groups. Nearly half of children in households where the main earner works in a managerial or professional occupation watched educational content, compared with 35% of households where the main earner works in a skilled manual or unskilled profession.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been told that I\u2019ve inspired young people to pursue chemistry\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Ben MacAdam Gorham,\u00a0@techience<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u2018Burning down the library of Alexandria\u2019<\/p>\n Ben MacAdam Gorham, who shares videos of chemistry experiments on Tiktok (@techience<\/a>), says it\u2019s \u2018crucial\u2019 that the UK doesn\u2019t ban YouTube \u2013 at least not long-form content. \u2018This would be the equivalent of burning down the library of Alexandria. I cannot express this enough. Half of the things I\u2019ve ever learned were from YouTube long-form content. [What\u2019s more] I\u2019ve been told that I\u2019ve inspired young people to pursue chemistry as a college major and, if even one of the millions of people watching my videos becomes a scientist, then I think that\u2019s a success.\u2019<\/p>\n @techience<\/a> This is called the chemical stoplight btw #stoplight<\/a> #chemistry<\/a> #indigocarmine<\/a> \u266c original sound – Techience<\/a> <\/p>\n However, Tamara Ewing, who shares chemistry videos on TikTok (@chemist.te<\/a>), thinks the ban would be a net positive \u2013 provided it targets the addictive, algorithmically driven scrolling mechanism itself, not access to the content. \u2018I\u2019d push back on the premise that short-form social platforms are a good vehicle for science communication in the first place. A lot of creators, me included, moved into that space because it\u2019s where the audience is, not because 15-second dopamine-optimised video is a good format for teaching mechanisms and nuance in science. It\u2019s genuinely difficult to communicate good science in that format.\u2019 Low-quality content is widespread on these platforms, she says, so removing under-16 access isn\u2019t obviously a loss to their science education.<\/p>\n @chemis.te<\/a> Answer to @bontoog No need to memorize the order if you have a periodic table near by\u2014which you usually would! #chemistryhelp<\/a> #electronconfiguration<\/a> \u266c Jazz – Aylior<\/a> <\/p>\n Kim Hilton<\/a>, a chemist at Florida Southwestern State College who posts videos on YouTube as Chemical Kim (@chemicalkimscience<\/a>), also thinks the ban won\u2019t be a big problem for children or chemistry educators. \u2018Children who are already interested in science do benefit from educators like me on these platforms,\u2019 she notes. \u2018But I don\u2019t believe social media has revolutionised or meaningfully improved science education for children overall. Learning science is about doing science. Kids today are spending hours staring at screens, even when what\u2019s on the screen is an educational video about a chemical reaction. That time would be better spent exploring, getting hands on with the world and following their own curiosity. If we want to genuinely expand science education for children, they need to put the screens down. They should be outside, curious and hands-on with the world.\u2019<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n But do young people agree?<\/p>\n \u2018Young people are pretty unanimous: they don\u2019t want a blanket ban,\u2019 says Paddy Crump, campaigns director at Flippgen, a UK youth-led not-for-profit group that helps young people navigate the online world. \u2018I\u2019m particularly worried about the impact on access to science. A huge amount of young people\u2019s exposure to science depends on social media \u2013 researchers, museums and educators mostly reach young audiences through these platforms rather than standalone websites. A ban risks cutting young people off from science at exactly the age they\u2019re starting to engage with it.\u2019<\/p>\n Crump also fears a real impact on science in school. \u2018I learnt so much from creators on YouTube during my GCSEs \u2013 they helped me understand subjects I was studying, and teachers would often point me towards particular accounts. That was especially useful when I\u2019d missed a lesson or hadn\u2019t quite grasped something.\u2019 Crump worries that this ban will hit those who find it difficult to learn in classrooms hardest. He points out that \u2018it also creates an odd situation for anyone sitting GCSEs: two students in the same class could end up with different access to the same learning resources, simply because of when their birthday falls\u2019.<\/p>\n So, what happens next?<\/p>\n David Hillyard, chief executive and founder of Craig\u2019n\u2019Dave<\/a> who posts computer science videos on YouTube, says, if necessary, they\u2019ll move their videos to another platform not included in the ban \u2013 one that doesn\u2019t include social interactions like commenting such as Tella<\/a>. One downside is that they\u2019ll lose the recommendation algorithms that make students and teachers aware of their content.<\/p>\n However, Ewing suggests that a reasonable pivot for content creators would be to redirect content toward adults and make material useful for teachers to bring into a classroom (or guided setting), rather than for a 13-year-old to find alone.<\/p>\n \u2018It is an initial brick wall,\u2019 Hillyard says. \u2018But there are many ways to navigate around it!\u2019<\/p>\n