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Keir Starmer will start a crucial week for his premiership by announcing a package of strong restrictions designed to protect British teenagers from online threats.<\/p>\n
The UK Prime Minister is expected Monday morning to confirm a ban on under-16s using major social media platforms, as well as other measures including curfews on older teenagers and tough regulations on chatbots. He will then depart for a Group of Seven summit at \u00c9vian-les-Bains, France, where he faces awkward questions following last week\u2019s resignation of his defense secretary and uncertainty around the UK\u2019s military budget.<\/p>\n
A ban on young teenagers using social media is popular with the UK public, despite concerns around how effectively it can be enforced. The Labour government\u2019s new range of restrictions \u2014 including some against chatbots and online games \u2014 will go further than laws in Australia, according to a person familiar with the situation, where a ban on social media for teens came into effect last year.<\/p>\n
Read:
Should South Africa follow Australia\u2019s social media crackdown?
Australia\u2019s social media ban for under 16s to become law<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a choice about whose side we\u2019re on: families across the country, or a status quo that isn\u2019t working,\u201d Starmer said in a statement late Sunday.<\/p>\n
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Starmer was criticised at the weekend by the father of a teenage girl who took her life in 2017 after being exposed to harmful online content. Ian Russell told the BBC it would be \u201cdeplorable\u201d if the prime minister had rushed out the ban as part of a policy blitz before he faces a likely leadership challenge.<\/p>\n
A public consultation on how to protect young people closed less than three weeks ago and some of Starmer\u2019s cabinet colleagues believe the government\u2019s decision to go with a full social media ban for U16s was rushed ahead of Thursday\u2019s by-election, according to a person familiar with the situation.<\/p>\n
The opposition Liberal Democrats accused the Labour leadership of \u201crushing through a half-baked policy just to secure a political legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starmer\u2019s primary rival Andy Burnham is expected to win a parliamentary seat at Thursday\u2019s special election in Makerfield, northwest England. If Burnham defeats Nigel Farage\u2019s populist Reform UK party, he is likely to challenge Starmer, raising the prospect of a summer contest for the keys to No. 10 Downing Street.<\/p>\n
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Starmer\u2019s team is trying to regroup following the resignations of Secretary of State John Healey, Junior Defence Minister Al Carns and two ministerial aides last week. Healey said Starmer had failed to secure enough of a spending boost for the military, in light of heightened threats from Russia and other adversaries.<\/p>\n
However, Lisa Nandy, the UK\u2019s culture secretary, said Sunday that the government had \u201cnot finished\u201d trying to find savings from other departments in order to bulk up Britain\u2019s defences.<\/p>\n
\u201cNegotiation is happening as we speak,\u201d Nandy told the BBC, suggesting that Starmer had decided to look for more money. A larger budget increase would help Starmer meet promises he made to Britain\u2019s allies, but \u2014 coming after Healey\u2019s resignation \u2014 risks exposing the premier to accusations of another U-turn.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
#Starmer #confirm #social #media #ban #teens #ahead<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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