UK proposes voluntary overnight social media curfew for older teens

The UK government has introduced a voluntary overnight curfew framework targeting older teenagers' social media use as part of its broader digital harm reduction strategy. Under the proposal, users aged 16 and 17 would face a default six-hour lockout period from midnight to 6 a.m. across major platforms including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The system would also deactivate engagement-maximizing features such as autoplay video functionality and infinite scrolling for this age group by default, intended to promote better sleep patterns and sustained focus.

The initiative represents a softer regulatory approach compared to the government's earlier announcement of a complete social media prohibition for children under 16, scheduled to take effect in 2027. UK Secretary for Online Safety Kanishka Narayan defended the voluntary nature of the restrictions, arguing that the government sought to empower rather than restrict older adolescents. He cited pilot data indicating that over 90 percent of teenagers maintained restrictive default settings when given the option, suggesting that most users would not circumvent the controls.

The proposal has generated mixed responses from stakeholders. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children welcomed the development but cautioned that it represented only a temporary measure requiring supplementary stronger interventions. Opposition Conservative Party education spokesperson Laura Trott dismissed the curfew as ineffective, arguing that restrictions users could easily disable would fail to achieve meaningful outcomes. The UK's approach reflects a global trend toward restricting youth social media access, following Australia's December implementation of a world-first ban on social media for under-16s, which authorities are already considering tightening after studies revealed widespread circumvention by teenagers.