The British government has announced plans to require age verification for access to online platforms
The UK’s move to ban social media for under-16s is a ruse to implement digital surveillance of all internet users, X owner Elon Musk has declared, accusing the British government of building a “police state.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the ban on Monday, promising that the measure would protect “the safety and happiness of our children.”
Children under 16 will be barred from “user-to-user” platforms such as X, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, according to a statement from Starmer’s office. They will also be prohibited from livestreaming, messaging strangers through gaming apps, and using AI “romantic companion” chatbots. Meanwhile, 16- and 17-year-olds will be subject to nightly online curfews.
Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal will be exempt from the ban, the statement added. The ban is expected to come into force next year.
Shortly after Starmer’s announcement, Musk warned that “this censorship law is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” In a post on X, the billionaire claimed that its “real goal is to enable the UK government to track everyone.” In another post, Musk declared that “the UK is a police state.”
In order to ban under-16s, the government must ensure that adults can verify their age before using social media platforms. Starmer’s office did not say how this would be implemented, instead stating that the government is exploring “different options for effective forms of age assurance.”
However, Starmer said that age verification would “use the same model for a social media ban as Australia.” Under the scheme, users must prove they are over 16 by submitting a government-issued ID or allowing a facial age check, with platforms responsible for carrying out the verification.
The ban has been heavily criticized by digital rights activists. “Over 16s in the UK will have to hand over identity documents or biometric data to unregulated age verification companies,” the Open Rights Group warned, adding that “the government has completely failed to acknowledge the harms that could come from that.”
“We will become one of the first democracies in the world to require IDs to access the internet,” Big Brother Watch Director Silkie Carlo told Talk TV on Monday. “We are sleepwalking towards a total surveillance state.”
Starmer has lobbied for the introduction of a mandatory digital ID system since last year, but was forced to drop the plan amid public backlash this January. His government, however, has plowed ahead with other digital surveillance and censorship measures, including the rollout of facial recognition cameras by multiple police departments at demonstrations, a request to tech companies to require adults to submit ID to use mobile phones, and legislation that will enable the government to remove content from social media “during times of crisis.”
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