Kemi Badenoch says Tories would ban under-16s from social media

Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservative Party would ban under-16s from accessing social media platforms if it were in power.

The Tory leader told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that platforms were profiting from children’s “anxiety” and “distraction” and were “designed to be addictive”.

It comes after teachers’ union the NASUWT said the Government should bring in legislation that would make big tech platforms prevent children from accessing their platforms.

In Australia, a social media ban for under-16s came into force in December.

The Conservatives said tech firms, such as TikTok and Snapchat, would be required to use age checks that do not rely on government digital ID.

Mrs Badenoch said: “What we want to see is common sense – protection for children and freedom for adults.

“We want to give parents some understanding that the Government understands what they’re going through. So we want to bring in age limits.

“The internet is a wild west, social media in particular. We don’t think children should be on there, and we want the industry to see the direction of travel so that we can start working with them now in order to get the proper solutions in place.”

Mrs Badenoch said that as a mother-of-three, she understands that age limits would not completely stop children from accessing social media, but would remove a “critical mass” from the platforms.

She went on: “Even from my own usage of social media, I can see how it’s designed to keep you on there again and again and again.

“And we’re also seeing a huge increase in depression and anxiety, mental health issues. Some of this correlates quite strongly with social media use.

“We’re having people come out of university, go straight on to benefits. We want to curb that.

“So all of this is linked with our wider strategy, banning phones in schools, getting people into work.

“All of these are bricks that are going to build up our policy wall.”

Dismissing a suggestion from presenter Laura Kuenssberg that she played “rather a lot of Candy Crush”, Mrs Badenoch said that she never had, but that she did use Instagram to check messages and that “half-an-hour later you realise that you’ve just been looking at memes and things like that”.

After her interview, Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, wrote on X: “I find myself agreeing with a lot of what Kemi Badenoch is saying about children and social media. It seems to me parents would welcome a cross-party consensus around much bolder action.”

Former education minister Lord Nash said: “I strongly welcome Kemi Badenoch’s bold move to put children first. Raising the age limit for social media now has backing from across the political spectrum, including Labour and Liberal Democrat parliamentarians, the NEU and the NASUWT.”

Calling for a ban, NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack said: “Teachers are dealing every day with the fallout of a social media landscape not originally designed and not suitable for children.

“Social media companies have shown time and again that they will not act responsibly unless they are forced to do so.

“If we are serious about safeguarding children, protecting their mental health and combating the behaviour crisis in our schools, then a statutory ban for under‑16s must happen urgently.”

The chief of schools watchdog Ofsted raised concerns at the end of last year that social media was “chipping away” at children’s attention spans and promoting disrespectful behaviour.

The NASUWT surveyed 5,800 teacher members in 2025 and found that about four in five (81%) reported an increase in the number of pupils exhibiting violent and abusive behaviour.

Nearly three in five (59%) of respondents to the same survey said they believed social media was one of the driving factors behind deteriorating behaviour.

In a separate poll of 300 members, the NASUWT found 89% said they would support a statutory social media ban for under-16s.

A Government spokesperson said: “We support headteachers to take the necessary steps to prevent disruption in our schools – backed by our guidance, the vast majority already restrict the use of phones in the school day, so they do not disrupt learning.

“Through the Online Safety Act, we have taken some of the boldest steps anywhere in the world to ensure children have age-appropriate experiences online, mandating that social media companies protect under-18s from harmful content.

“We are striking the right balance: protecting children from harm while ensuring they can benefit safely from the digital world.”

Anna Edmundson, NSPCC head of policy and public affairs, said: “It is vital young people are protected from the harms that can take place on social media, but we believe a blanket ban for under-16s would be a blunt approach to a complex problem.

“It would undermine young people’s rights to connect with friends and family, learn about the world and access support. It also risks driving them to unregulated spaces online, exposing them to even greater threats.

“We must not punish young people for the failure of tech companies to create safe online experiences. To fix this properly, services must be held accountable for the content being pushed out on their platforms and ensure that young people, and adults, can enjoy social media safely.”