Introduce 16 as the minimum age for children to have social media
We believe social media companies should be banned from letting children under 16 create social media accounts.
Signatures
132,102
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 10,000/10,000 · reached
Debate threshold (100,000) · 100,000/100,000 · reached
- 07 MAY 2025Petition closedFinal total: 132,102 signatures
- 26 NOV 2024Government respondedDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyGovernment reply
The government is aware of the ongoing debate as to what age children should have smartphones and access to social media. The government is not currently minded to support a ban for children under 16.
Read full response - 19 NOV 2024100,000 signatures reachedEligible to be considered for debate
- 10 NOV 202410,000 signatures reachedEligible for a government response
- 07 NOV 2024Petition opened for signatures
Background
We think this would help:
1. Stop online bullying
2. Stop children being influenced by false posts
3. Stop children seeing content that encourages violence/could be harmful for their future.
We believe social media is having more of a negative impact to children than a positive one. We think people should be of an age where they can make decisions about their life before accessing social media applications. We believe that we really need to introduce a minimum age of 16 to access social media for the sake of our children’s future along with their mental and physical health.