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Will the social media ban work?

19th - 26th June 2026

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45645

Total votes

10407

5-11 votes

35238

11-16+ votes

The Government has recently announced plans to introduce a social media ban for under-16s, with aims for it to come into effect in early 2027. Supporters of the move say that it is a vital step to keep young people safe. In the words of the Prime Minister, “Tech giants had their chance and failed, but we’re stepping in to protect children, back parents and set a new normal for future generations.” However, critics say that a similar ban has failed to achieve its aims in Australia, with 70% of 12-15-year olds managing to create new accounts despite the ban. They also argue that the voices of young people, those most affected by the decision, have been ignored. In an attempt to remedy this, we want to put these voices at the heart of the debate. When we asked our voters if there should be a social media ban in January, they returned a 85.7% ‘No’ vote. Now that the plan is becoming a reality, will their voting change?

Primary 5-9 were asked, "Does banning things work?"

Primary 9-11, Secondary and 16+ & College voters discussed, "Will the Social Media Ban work?"

32,472 young people participated in these votes will many more joining dicsussions in their schools and classrooms.

Knife Crime Child

Age 5-11 voter

We think children should learn to deal with these problems better from a younger age but banning will help to ease that until everyone knows the rules.

Knife Crime teen

Age 11-16 voter

It will be effective but people will hate it.

knife crime student

Age 11-16 voter

We are all tech savvy - more so than you think - people will find a way around this. You will be relying on parent support and our education to support this.

Feedback from our Impact Partners...

Thank you to Andy Burrows, CEO of Molly Rose Foundation, Will Gardner, CEO of Childnet International, Rani Govender, Associate Head of Policy for Child Safety Online at the NSPCC, and Paddy Crump, Youth Director at Flippgen, for responding to these findings.

Rani Govender, Associate Head of Policy for Child Safety Online at the NSPCC:

"These results show that children and young people have a wide range of questions and concerns about how the social media ban will work. It was really helpful to understand more about your different perspectives – including about how this will be hard to implement and the workarounds that children might find. At the NSPCC, we hear the challenges that you have shared. The Government has made the decision to introduce the ban. Our priority now is making sure that it really improves children’s safety and wellbeing in practice, and supports children to continue to enjoy the benefits from the online world. We will use these findings for our work with decision-makers to help highlight the challenges and make sure they introduce effective solutions."

85.6% of 9-11 pupils voted that a social media ban would not work.

  • Primary voters were generally united that a social media ban would not work.
  • 'No' voters thought that it would be difficult to enforce the ban properly as there were many ways for under-16s to access social media, whether by using a VPN or having an adult set up the account for them.
  • A small minority were in favour of the ban, referencing potential benefits to children’s mental health.
94.2% of Secondary and 16+ & College voters thought a social media ban would not work.

  • Secondary, 16+ & College voters were strongly against the ban, delivering our highest ‘No’ vote of the year.
  • Lots were particularly shocked at YouTube’s inclusion, saying that they use it for support with school work.
  • Some ‘No’ voters argued that it would increase the prevalence of mental health problems amongst young people.
Students recognised that peer influence means they can make changes that adult cannot.

  • Voters of all ages thought that young people woud simply circumvent the ban by using VPNs or other means.
  • A clear theme was that the Government should be taking action against those posting any harmful content on social media, rather than penalising the young people who are using the platforms.
  • Others thought it was an issue for parents to handle with their own children, rather than something that should be decided by the state.
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