British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday he would ban social media sites for under-16s and impose restrictions on gaming and livestreaming platforms, in some of the world’s most far-reaching online restrictions to date.

The sweeping changes will reflect Britain’s values, helping to protect children online while pushing back against the power of big technology companies, Starmer told a press conference.

“It is clear to me a full ban is the right choice,” he said.

“This will change the conversations that parents have and the expectations of children over time. It will make a huge difference, it will make our children safer, it will make our children happier, it will give them more time, more security, more freedom to grow up, more opportunity”.

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As well as a ban on sites such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, he said he would take action against gaming and livestreaming services which allow children to talk to strangers.

“Is there a situation in the offline world where you would just let your child pair up with a stranger, an adult that you don’t know anything about? No, so we’re taking action on that,” Starmer said.

BAN IN PLACE BY NEXT SPRING?

The government already has the powers to take the first steps in any ban, he said, with regulation to follow by the end of the year and a prohibition in place around next spring.

Britain has increasingly toughened its approach to tech companies in recent years, urging or forcing them to impose age verification, adapt their algorithms and, most recently, prevent children from circulating nude images taken on mobile phones.

How will the UK ban work

TIKTOK, YOUTUBE AND INSTAGRAM BANNED

The government said it would block children using social media platforms whose purpose is to enable user-to-user social interaction and  which allow users to post material with algorithms.

This means the ban will include platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, the government said in a statement.

The government said it did not intend for messaging services like WhatsApp or music streaming services to be included in the ban, and exemptions would be kept under review.

HOW WILL THE BAN BE ENFORCED?

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the ban would be enforced through action against social media platforms, rather than seeking to fine children who find ways to circumvent it.

The government said regulator Ofcom would conduct a rapid study to establish the best way to verify if someone is over 16, and would have a new enforcement strategy and funding.

TIMING OF BAN

Starmer said he was aiming to pass the relevant regulations before Christmas and have the ban come into force early next year.

A full response to the government’s consultation on the issue will be published in July, fleshing out details of the policy.

RESTRICTIONS ON GAMING SITES

The government also said it would block livestreaming and stranger communication for under-16s, including gaming sites.

Starmer said this would prevent strangers contacting children through these sites.

GOVERNMENT WILL LOOK AT CURFEWS, RESTRICTIONS ON SCROLLING

The government will also be looking in more detail at overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under 18-year-olds, and will set out more detail in the response next month.

Restrictions on functionalities banned for those under 16 would be applied by default for 16- and 17-year-olds, the government said.

But with a growing awareness of the mental health risks posed by children spending too much time online, Starmer has decided to go further after speaking to parents and considering evidence from Australia, which brought in a ban for under-16s last year.

Starmer, who is likely to face a leadership challenge in the coming weeks, said people rightly expected action.

Australia was the first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking them last December from platforms including TikTok, Alphabet’s GOOGL.O YouTube and Meta’s META.O Instagram and Facebook.

Since then a raft of countries have said they are looking to regulate access to social media amid mounting concerns over the impact on children’s health and safety.

EXTENSIVE CONSULTATIONS

Britain has consulted teachers, parents and young people on new restrictions, including a possible ban for under-16s, as well as curfews, app time limits and curbs on what the government has described as addictive design features.

It received more than 116,000 responses from parents, industry and young people. More than 83% of parents who responded said risks from social media outweighed benefits, while 90% backed a minimum age of 16 to access social media platforms.

While many parents and politicians back a ban, some psychologists and researchers have said there is no proof that it would work, and a group of school children in London told Reuters they had a conflicted relationship with the technology.