This week, the UK Government announced one of the biggest changes to social media we’ve seen in years. Under new plans, children under the age of 16 will be banned from using major social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, X and YouTube. The Government says the move is designed to “give kids their childhood back” and put more power back into the hands of parents. The legislation is expected to come into force in Spring 2027 if passed by Parliament.
As you’d probably expect, opinions are divided.
At SMR Social, we spend every day helping businesses make the most of social media, so it would be easy to assume we’d be against anything that reduces the number of people using these platforms. Actually, we don’t see it that way at all.
As both parents and social media managers, we think there are positives, there are challenges, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
Looking at It as Parents
We (Stephen and Abby) have two young children, so this new law won’t affect our family for a good few years yet. However, if these rules are still in place when our children reach their teenage years, we actually think they’ll make parenting a little easier. One of the hardest things for parents is explaining why their children can’t have something that “everyone else has”. Until now, conversations around social media have often ended with, “Because we said so.” If this legislation is successfully introduced, parents have another layer of support. Instead of social media simply being something Mum and Dad don’t want them using, it also becomes something that’s against the law for their age group. That might sound like a small difference, but we think it’s an important one. It helps create a social expectation, not just a family rule. Whether children always listen is another question entirely, but it certainly strengthens parents’ position.
Will It Affect Businesses That Advertise on Social Media?
From a marketing perspective, we actually don’t think this will have a huge impact for most of our clients. The vast majority of small businesses aren’t trying to sell products or services directly to children under the age of 16. So for local cafés, restaurants, tradespeople, beauty salons, gyms, estate agents and the majority of other small businesses we work with, very little is likely to change.
There will, of course, be exceptions.
Businesses that specifically market to teenagers may have to rethink how they reach their audience. They’ll need to become more creative and may even find themselves relying more on traditional marketing methods, partnerships, events or other channels that existed long before social media arrived. Marketing has always evolved. This is simply another example of that.
The Biggest Question Is… Can It Actually Be Enforced?
This is probably where we have the biggest question marks. The Government clearly intends to make under-16s unable to create and access accounts through stronger age verification systems. But realistically, how easy will that be?
If we’re honest, we’re slightly sceptical that existing under-16 users will suddenly disappear from social media overnight. History tells us that young people are incredibly good at finding ways around technology restrictions. It’s entirely possible that many existing accounts remain active while platforms focus more on preventing brand-new accounts from being created.
If that’s the case, then the real impact of this legislation may only become clear over several years rather than immediately.
Could There Be Unintended Consequences?
Like many major policy changes, there are arguments on both sides. While reducing children’s exposure to social media could have obvious wellbeing benefits, there’s also the possibility that some young people simply move elsewhere.
- Less regulated platforms.
- Private online communities.
- Workarounds that parents know even less about.
That’s arguably a greater risk. We don’t pretend to have the answer to that, and we suspect the Government doesn’t either. It’s something we’ll only really understand once these changes have been in place for a while.
What This Means for Social Media Marketing
For businesses reading this blog, we don’t think it’s time to panic. If your ideal customer is over 16, and for most small businesses they are, your marketing strategy probably doesn’t need to change at all. Your focus should remain exactly where it’s always been:
- Creating useful content.
- Building trust.
- Showing your personality.
- Helping customers understand what you do.
Those fundamentals won’t change regardless of who is allowed on the platforms. In fact, if anything, businesses may benefit from platforms becoming more focused on adult audiences.
We’ve always believed social media is an incredible tool when it’s used well. It helps businesses grow. It helps communities connect. It helps people discover brilliant local businesses they may never have found otherwise. But we’ve also seen how addictive these platforms can become, particularly for younger people who are still developing.
As parents, we welcome anything that genuinely helps families have healthier conversations around technology.
As social media managers, we don’t think this announcement changes very much for the businesses we work with.
Whether the ban proves to be fully enforceable remains to be seen, and there will no doubt be plenty of debate over the coming months. But if it does make it easier for parents to keep younger children away from social media for a little longer, then that’s something we can certainly understand.