Keir Starmer announces crackdown on social media

The government has announced that they are making changes to make protections for children online even stronger, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer promising to move quickly to close the gaps in the existing laws and crack down on harmful content.

Speaking ahead of meetings with parents and young people, Sir Keir said that the rapid pace of technology means that the law must catch up, adding that Britain should lead the way rather than trail behind when it comes to keeping children safe online.

AI chatbots to operate under the Online Safety Act

At the heart of the plans is bringing AI chatbots fully under the scope of the Online Safety Act. Ministers say they will “shut a legal loophole and force all AI chatbot providers to abide by the illegal content duties in the Online Safety Act, ensuring that newer technologies are covered by rules originally drafted before the boom in generative AI.

The crackdown will target “vile illegal content created by AI” and follows government intervention over non-consensual intimate images being generated on Grok, which led to the feature being removed. Sir Keir has made it clear that “no platform gets a free pass” and has pledged to “crack down on the addictive elements of social media”.

Ending the auto-play feature

He wrote that social media has changed dramatically over the past two decades and, in that transformation, “it has become something that is quietly harming our children.” He said he wanted to “stop the auto-play, the never-ending scrolling, that keeps our children hooked on their screens for hours, and stop kids getting around age limits”. And, he added, “And if that means a fight with the big social media companies, then bring it on.”

Jool’s Law

The government is also looking to introduce Jools’ Law, following the campaign by Ellen Roome after the death of her 14-year-old son in 2022. The proposal would require tech companies to preserve a child’s data quickly if they die and it may be relevant to the cause of death, so it cannot be deleted before families or coroners can access it.

Roome said: “This is about truth. This is about accountability. This is about holding social media companies accountable,” and added, “Because of Jools, and because of relentless campaigning, other families will now have access to answers.” However, she stressed: “We must ultimately do more to stop children being harmed or dying in the first place.”

Government launch consultation

The government is launching a consultation next month on children’s digital wellbeing. It will examine options such as setting a minimum age for social media, restricting features like infinite scrolling, limiting children’s access to AI chatbots and tightening rules around VPN use to prevent young people bypassing age checks. Ministers say they are seeking new legal powers so that they can act on the consultation’s findings within months rather than waiting years for fresh primary legislation.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said she understood the urgency felt by parents. “I know that parents across the country want us to act urgently to keep their children safe online,” she said. Referring to action taken over Grok, she added: “That's why I stood up to Grok and Elon Musk when they flouted British laws and British values.” She said ministers “will not wait” and are determined “to give children the childhood they deserve and to prepare them for the future at a time of rapid technological change.”

What has the response been?

Charities have broadly welcomed the direction of travel. Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said: “Parents are right to demand urgent action on online safety, and we strongly welcome the Government’s ambition to move quickly and decisively to tackle appalling and preventable harm.” But he urged the prime minister to go further, saying: “Sir Keir Starmer should commit to a new Online Safety Act that strengthens regulation and makes clear that product safety and children's wellbeing is the cost of doing business in the UK.” The NSPCC said the promise of swift action was positive and warned that without meaningful change, pressure for a full under-16 social media ban would grow.

Opposition figures were less impressed. Shadow education secretary Laura Trott dismissed the plans as “more smoke and mirrors from a government that has chosen inaction when it comes to stopping under-16s accessing social media”. She said the evidence of harm is clear and that under-16s should be prevented from accessing platforms, arguing that the UK “is lagging behind while other countries have recognised the risks and begun to act”.