Government proposes voluntary overnight social media curfew for teenagers
The UK government has proposed a voluntary overnight social media curfew for teenagers, aiming to reduce screen time and improve wellbeing.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The UK government has announced plans for a voluntary overnight social media curfew for 16 and 17 year olds, as part of a wider push to protect young people online. Under the proposals, popular apps such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube would be made unavailable by default between midnight and 6am. Addictive features like autoplay and infinite scroll would also be switched off as standard. However, teenagers will be able to opt out by changing their account settings, leading to criticism that the measures are too weak to be effective.
The plans were unveiled by Technology Secretary Liz Kendall and follow last month's announcement that under 16s would be banned entirely from a range of social media platforms. The government says the curfew is designed to improve teenagers' focus, sleep quality and family life, and to avoid a "cliff edge" where young people suddenly gain full access to social media at 16. Officials point to evidence from late last year when some platforms introduced similar defaults, with more than 90% of teenagers choosing to keep them on.
But the voluntary nature of the curfew has drawn sharp criticism. Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott described the policy as a "dog's dinner", questioning how the government could give 16 year olds the vote while simultaneously putting them under a social media curfew. Campaigners whose children died in situations linked to social media said the changes do not go far enough. Ellen Roome, whose 14 year old son Jules died after what she believes was a TikTok challenge, said the curfew should be longer and that the real responsibility lies with tech companies to design non addictive platforms.
The Children's Commissioner and the NSPCC have welcomed the proposals, but both want the government to go further in tackling the addictive design of social media. Clinical psychologist Dr Danielle Einstein, who has advised on Australia's similar ban for under 16s, said the UK was moving in the right direction but that no single initiative would be enough. She noted that in Australia, parents of younger children were already delaying social media access and that changing norms was a key goal.
The government insists the defaults will empower teenagers rather than restrict them, and that the evidence shows most young people will stick with the settings. But critics argue that giving teenagers the option to turn off the curfew makes it meaningless, and that the real problem is the platforms themselves, not the time of day they are used.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC NEWS | BBC One | GB News | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A voluntary policy for 16 and 17 year olds introduces default settings that block access between midnight and 6am and disable autoplay and infinite scroll. | |||||
| The government said the changes aim to improve teenagers' focus, sleep quality, and family life, and to avoid a sudden introduction to social media at age 16. | · | · | |||
| Users can opt out of the default settings, leading to criticism that the measures are voluntary or piecemeal. | · | · | |||
| The changes are part of wider government restrictions on social media for children. | · | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
GB News took a highly dismissive and mocking tone, presenting the policy as pointless and naive. The presenter ridiculed the idea of a voluntary curfew, arguing that teenagers can already choose not to use social media and that the government has not thought through how it would work. The coverage was brief and framed as a joke, with little serious analysis.
- “Seriously, the most pointless policy you have ever heard in your life.”
- “What a policy from Liz Kendall, by the way. I mean, is this her legacy?”
- “This is what seems to be missing. I mean, that's... What a policy from Liz Kendall, by the way.”
BBC News provided a balanced, factual report that included the government's rationale, criticism from campaigners and the opposition, and an expert interview with a clinical psychologist from Australia. The tone was neutral, with a focus on the voluntary nature of the curfew and the debate over its effectiveness. The report also gave context by mentioning the earlier ban for under 16s.
- “The truth of the matter is, you know, I've been saying for a long time and many people, you know, who campaign on this issue feel very passionately that we have to really deal with the tech companies.”
- “Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott rendered the plans a dog's dinner, questioning how the government could give 16-year-olds the vote while simultaneously putting them under a social media curfew.”
- “The government says the changes will improve teenagers' focus, sleep quality and family life.”
Sky News focused on the criticism that the curfew would be too easy for teenagers to turn off, and included a government minister's defence that defaults work and that most teenagers keep them on. The report was concise, with a correspondent explaining the policy and the political reaction. The tone was straightforward and newsy.
- “plans for an overnight social media curfew for 16 and 17 year olds are being criticized. It's amid warnings It will be just too easy for teenagers to just turn off the settings”
- “the Conservatives responding to this this morning have described it as a dog's dinner Of a policy”
- “the government want here is to avoid there being a social media cliff edge where people get social media at 16 having potentially never had it before and being plunged straight into the deep end”
BBC ONE West carried the same core report as BBC News but with a slightly different introduction referencing Keir Starmer's last Prime Minister's Questions. The coverage included additional quotes from campaigner Ellen Roome, who called for stronger measures and longer curfew hours. The tone remained neutral and informative.
- “I really think they could hit the ground hard and come in with lots of other features that actually protects children a bit more.”
- “These platforms actually need to be designed so they're not addictive in the first place.”
- “Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott rendered the plans at dogs' dinner, questioning how the government could give 16-year-olds the vote while simultaneously putting them under a social media curfew.”
5 News took a more human interest approach, using vox pops with teenagers and a lighthearted analogy to Cinderella. The report explained the policy clearly but focused on the question of whether it would work, given that teenagers can opt out. The tone was accessible and slightly sceptical, with a focus on real world impact.
- “The fact that they have an option to opt in or opt out, it just shows that, oh, I don't have to do it, so I'm just going to just leave it.”
- “I feel like it could work because there's times where people will be online at night scrolling a lot as well, but with the ban as well, that would take that away completely.”
- “Even Cinderella missed her midnight curfew and then her coach turned into a pumpkin. Maybe mobile phones should turn into pumpkins too, when the clock strikes 12.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.