UK teens plan to opt out of proposed social media curfew

The UK government, led by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, announced a voluntary overnight curfew for 16‑ and 17‑year‑olds that would automatically block access to social‑media platforms from midnight to 6 a.m. The default setting can be switched off by the user.

A Censuswide poll commissioned by the Online Responsibility Network found that 84.6 % of 16‑ to 18‑year‑olds would opt out of the curfew. Among those, 45.2 % said they would turn it off to talk to family or friends and 37.2 % to watch online content. About 38 % of teens already use VPNs regularly, and 24 % said they would use a VPN to bypass the restriction.

Regulatory lead Leanne Proctor warned that the curfew alone is unlikely to prevent online harms and called for stronger design‑feature protections and robust age‑verification. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson noted the voluntary element could be revised if many teenagers switch it off. The policy also proposes limiting addictive features such as infinite scrolling for young users.