UK Moves to Ban Kids’ Social Media Use; Here are the Most Popular Age Verification Checks

The UK government has announced a ban on under-16s accessing TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and other social media platforms.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer recently announced that the regulation will pass before Christmas 2026 and come into force in spring 2027.

Now, data from the Information Commissioner’s Office shows that the most popular method of verifying a user’s age is self-declaration.

Self-declaration means a user states their age, and nothing is verified against it.

The report surveyed UK digital services companies about their age-assurance practices in April 2024.

53% of UK digital services companies currently use self-declaration (a tick box or a typed birth year) as their age-assurance method.
Biometric estimation through facial analysis (the most technically capable age verification method) is used by just 2% of UK digital services companies.

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Australia implemented a comparable national under-16 social media ban in late 2024 using a “reasonable steps” standard.

It required platforms to take reasonable steps to verify age without specifying which methods count. The debate over whether self-declaration constitutes a reasonable step has continued since then.

The UK faces the same design question.

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UK Moves to Ban Kids’ Social Media Use; Here are the Most Popular Age Verification Checks - Voronoi