SUMMARY
- Britain’s planned social media ban for under-16s could reach YouTube Kids, a video app that was designed so that parents could safely control their children’s browsing habits.
- Lego Play and Spotify could also fall within the rules, which one source briefed on the plans said could cover up to 150 services.
- Ministers also plan to restrict chat with strangers in games and are weighing restrictions on marketplaces such as eBay and Vinted.
- Ofcom has identified four ways platforms could check whether users are 16 or older. Like other mandatory age-verification requirements, this means all adults will have to upload some form of identification as well — another step towards universal digital ID.
Britain’s planned social media ban for under-16s could shut children out of YouTube Kids. The app lets parents turn off search or limit what their children watch to videos, channels, and collections they approve themselves.
When the government announced the ban, it encouraged companies to build dedicated online spaces for children. YouTube Kids is precisely that kind of app.
The Guardian reported on November 10 that the first round of rules could also cover Lego Play and Spotify, with one source putting the number of services potentially affected at up to 150. Ministers expect to put the initial regulations before Parliament in December, with the ban due in spring 2027. A second round could reach marketplaces such as eBay and Vinted.
Online Safety Minister Ian Murray named YouTube Kids and Lego Play in Parliament on November 2 when discussing how services might stay available to children. He said companies would have to show that their design complies with the regulations. The working proposal reported by the Guardian focuses on recommendation systems and user-generated content. Industry groups told ministers that stripping out recommendations would make YouTube Kids unworkable.
Lego Play lets children share photos of their builds, with posts reviewed before they go live and parents controlling what their children can share. The app has no direct messaging. Spotify, meanwhile, recommends music and podcasts and carries some user-generated content. Murray raised its messaging feature in Parliament. Spotify’s own rules make messaging available only to users aged 16 and up.
Who Can Talk in an Online Game?
In the same debate, Murray said the government would follow its social media ban with rules on contact between strangers, which he singled out as a problem on Roblox. Under-16s could still join matches with strangers, but they couldn’t talk to them.
That would reach the built-in voice chat players use to coordinate with teammates they’ve just been paired with. The government also plans to restrict livestreaming for under-16s on services such as games. For 16- and 17-year-olds, both features would be off by default.
Murray said groomers can lure children off games and onto other services. Gamer’s Voice, a British consumer group, warned that shutting off in-game chat could push players toward less closely moderated services anyway. It also warned that older games may be hard to update and that adults could have to prove their age to use chat.
Labour MP Sam Carling told the same debate that children in rural areas can live far from their friends. Online spaces help them meet people and “maintain friendships made in the real world,” he said. He warned that a blanket ban could send young users from one service to the next as regulators tried to keep up.
eBay and Vinted
On November 8, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that ministers were “looking seriously” at barring under-16s from eBay and Vinted. The Sunday Times also named Depop and Facebook Marketplace as possible targets.
According to Ofcom research cited by Sky News, 19% of children aged 8 to 14 use eBay at least once a month and 15% use Vinted.
Sky News reported that the Children’s Society had warned of children being offered money for indecent photographs through marketplace messaging tools. Those same tools let buyers ask sellers about an item before paying for it.
eBay already requires members to be at least 18. Vinted lets parents or guardians open accounts for children and supervise their use. A government ban could close that route even for families happy with the arrangement. Ministers have yet to say whether any restriction would cover browsing without an account.
What Happened in Australia
Britain is drawing on Australia’s ban on under-16s holding accounts on major platforms including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
The Molly Rose Foundation and Australian research firm YouthInsight surveyed 1,050 Australians aged 12 to 15 in March. Of those who had accounts on restricted platforms before the ban, 61% said they could still access at least one active account.
In a separate study, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner found that the share of surveyed 10- to 15-year-olds with their own account on at least one restricted service fell from 52% to 42% three months after the ban began. Use of those services, with or without an account, fell from 86% to 82%. Australia requires platforms to take reasonable steps to keep under-16s from holding accounts. Britain plans to require highly effective age checks.
The Australian regulator also found more messaging and more frequent online gaming. It said it was too soon to tell whether the ban drove either change. Labour MP Tony Vaughan cited those shifts in Westminster to make the case for extending restrictions to features on games, messaging apps, AI services, and app stores.
Another Step Towards Digital ID
Section 70 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 gives ministers power under the Online Safety Act to restrict children’s access to whole services or to individual features. Ministers can set different ages for different restrictions.
The Online Safety Act’s child safety rules have already put lawful speech behind age checks. As FFO previously reported, X put an age filter on a speech in Parliament by Conservative MP Katie Lam about grooming gangs.
In its October 29 assessment, Ofcom identified four options for checking whether a user is at least 16. Platforms could match a photo ID to a live image, use a digital ID service, check banking information, or estimate age from a face scan. Ofcom expects many adults to be asked for proof. It also says 16- and 17-year-olds without photo ID will likely need to get one, since several methods use it directly or may call for it as a backup.
Murray told MPs that the government is weighing age checks at the platform, app store, or device level.
