{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreif3nsfrxeo4arcx6igkawtmfhgko7dfez3odo3e4pwmxalrruh7iq",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:b7afdzqsmwksxypciqnplglk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mofjlrbenrk2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreibdzdvrbtqu23ew4bw423u65c2i2euaqta6dn2m3phxye7b36p7ya"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 43846
  },
  "path": "/2026/06/16/petition-stop-uk-under-16s-social-media-ban-crosses-150-000-signatures-28795962/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-16T09:23:22.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "Politics",
    "British Government",
    "Sir Keir Starmer",
    "Social Media",
    "government",
    "it was announced",
    "Keir Starmer",
    "charities",
    "supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo",
    "here",
    "petition against a ban",
    "Parliament",
    "confirmation of the plans",
    "@metrouk",
    "socialmedia",
    "socialmediaban",
    "metrouk",
    "publicopinion",
    "under16",
    "♬ original sound – Metro",
    "check our news page",
    "Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source"
  ],
  "textContent": "The Prime Minister said he hoped the move would encourage children to play with their friends outside and read (Picture: Getty Images)\n\nA petition to stop the government banning social media for under-16s in the UK has passed 150,000 – just over a day after it was announced.\n\nPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer set out the plans in an early-morning press conference on Monday, saying he is ‘not prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children’.\n\nWhile many charities and campaigners welcomed the news, there was also some notable criticism.\n\nThe Royal Society for Blind Children warned the ban ‘risks cutting off vital routes to connection for children who are already too often excluded’, and said it would be working to counter the impact.\n\nFact-checkers Full Fact, meanwhile, said the move was a ‘misguided, retrograde step and a de facto surrender in the fight against harmful online misinformation.’\n\nTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\n##  Everything is changing, all the time\n\nCut through political noise and understand how the Westminster chaos actually affects your life with Metro's politics newsletter Alright, Gov? Sign up here.\n\nA petition against a ban was launched on the official Parliament website in February, when pressure was growing on the government to announce one.\n\nCreator Leo Rhodes wrote: ‘I think the government shouldn’t ban social media for under 16s.\n\n‘This is because for many young people social media is how they communicate with their friends. Some people view social media as a lifeline. A community, a supportive network.’\n\nAround three weeks later, the government began a consultation on making the online world safer for under-16s.\n\nTech Secretary Liz Kendall set out details of the ban to MPs yesterday\n(Credits: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Shutterstock)\n\nIt became one of the biggest consultations ever run in the UK, with 116,000 responses included contributions from tens of thousands of parents across the country.\n\nYesterday’s announcement was the first official government response to the call for evidence, and it also covered livestreaming and gaming platforms.\n\nIt took mere hours after Starmer’s confirmation of the plans for the petition to pass 100,000 signatures, which means the issue will be considered for a debate in Parliament.\n\nThe number of signatures has grown a further 50% since yesterday, and is still rising by hundreds every few minutes.\n\n> @metrouk\n>\n> Social media has been banned for under 16’s in the UK so we went off to ask the public what their opinions were. #socialmedia #socialmediaban #metrouk #publicopinion #under16\n>\n> ♬ original sound – Metro\n\nSpeaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: ‘We are giving children their childhood back.\n\n‘I am clear-eyed about all the challenges that social media brings, for adults as well as children, and technology constantly changes.’\n\nShe told MPs other issues, such as the use of VPNs to skirt around restrictions, would be tackled next month following the end of a pilot scheme.\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Petition to stop UK under-16s social media ban crosses 150,000 signatures"
}