UK government ‘would consider’ Australia-style social media ban for under-16s

For now the government has no plans on introducing such a policy

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has said that ministers will be keeping "a very close eye" on how the move in Australia will plan out.

These comments came after Nandy was asked if the UK would follow Australia's approach to dealing with social media amongst young people.

She told Sky News: "We’re obviously keeping a very close eye on the way that this is playing out in Australia because we know that young people are really struggling with the amount of time that they spend online and what is happening to them online."

However, asked by Times Radio whether she thought it was a good idea or not the culture secretary raised doubts over enforceability.

She said: “We asked young people what they thought about it, and the overwhelming response was concerns about enforceability.

“Are we seriously saying that we’re going to start prosecuting young people for going on social media?”

Nandy did, however, say that the government's position could change in the future.

She told BBC Breakfast: "Yes, we certainly would consider it, not only if it worked, but if young people… believed that it was working and trusted that that was a solution."

Social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok have been banned from being accessed by under-16s in Australia, with accounts that already belong to those under 16 being removed.

These platforms face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (£24.7 million) if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove such accounts.