{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreifdf6ah2xytfudpomprgmkhlukuzrkgw5qw6n4m45ohthcrh4io6u",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:b7afdzqsmwksxypciqnplglk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mogeh43afeb2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreibdzdvrbtqu23ew4bw423u65c2i2euaqta6dn2m3phxye7b36p7ya"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 43846
  },
  "path": "/2026/06/16/uk-urged-rethink-socials-ban-australia-scheme-fell-apart-two-weeks-28801451/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-16T16:32:52.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "Politics",
    "Australia",
    "British Government",
    "Sir Keir Starmer",
    "Social Media",
    "government",
    "Keir Starmer",
    "here",
    "Ofcom",
    "phone",
    "said regulations should be tightened up",
    "supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo",
    "health",
    "check our news page",
    "Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source"
  ],
  "textContent": "The British government has said it is following the Australian model for its own scheme (Picture: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)\n\nThe under-16s social media ban that inspired countries across the globe – including the UK – to bring in similar measures has made little difference, an expert has claimed.\n\nAustralia blocked children and young teenagers from accessing 10 top social media sites in December last year.\n\nThe world-first move was intended to allow ‘children to have their childhood’ and ‘parents to have peace of mind’, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.\n\nIt didn’t take long for figures in the UK to start agitating for something similar, and in March the government launched a consultation into the idea.\n\nThen, on Monday morning, Sir Keir Starmer announced his response: a ban would be introduced as soon as next spring, along with a raft of other measures targeted at keeping children safe online.\n\nBut Prof Kathy Modecki, an academic at the University of Western Australia who is leading a large-scale study into the impact of the Australian ban, said the original scheme has long since lost its effectiveness.\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\nShe told **Metro** : ‘I hear from young people that the first two weeks was a bit of a puzzle – what’s going to happen, what’s this going to look like?\n\n‘And then after two weeks, it was sort of like it never occurred.’\n\nDodging age verification measures ‘started as a game and now it’s not even a game’, she said, with kids using cat filters and drawing crude moustaches on their face to fool facial scans.\n\nProfessor Kathy Modecki has been asking Australian children and adults what they think of the ban (Picture: University of Western Australia)\n\nThe UK government has said it will ask Ofcom to investigate highly effective age assurance (HEAA) systems to ensure its scheme does not meet the same fate.\n\nSpeaking to **Metro** on Monday, Online Safety Minister Kanishka Nurayan said: ‘If you get new technology to check ages better, we will include those.’\n\nUntil that point companies can use a variety of methods to verify ages, he said – such as facial recognition, checking official ID, and looking at how long a user’s account has existed.\n\nProf Modecki, who has researched children’s phone use for 15 years, said trying to stay ahead of technology in this space can be ‘whack-a-mole’.\n\nMore broadly, she questions the effectiveness of any all-out ban compared to forcing social media companies to act on removing inappropriate content from their platforms.\n\nShe said: ‘I’m hoping that the conversation is going to turn from looking at kids and their parents as mediators of this risk.\n\n‘The companies themselves, who are serving up the risks, somehow are allowed to say, “We’ve done what we can. Oh, and we’re also going to be the ones to determine it’s safe.”\n\n‘There’s no other area of our life where we would allow that.’\n\nIan Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life after seeing harmful images online, has also said regulations should be tightened up instead of a full ban being introduced.\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\nProf Modecki argues that a ban shouldn’t be brought in just because social media companies have not been proactive enough in taking down harmful content from their sites – as the ban itself is not without risks.\n\nShe said: ‘Some young people do find social support, confirmation of identity, and health information, and they tend to be those who have less resources physically at home. So are they going to be sort of cut off from those spaces.’\n\nNarayan said the government had concluded that the ‘overall sum of the downside was radically outweighing the opportunities’ of social media.\n\nHe said: ‘Of course there are some opportunities and benefits that social media has brought for young people and I’ve heard them across the country over the course of the last few months as well.\n\n‘But the biggest thing I’ve heard is that young people and their families don’t feel they have control in whether they’re getting just the benefits and opportunities and not all the downsides and the risks.’\n\nThe Department for Science, Innovation and Technology was contacted for comment.\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": "UK urged to rethink socials ban after Australia scheme ‘fell apart in two weeks’"
}