Spring 2027. The regulations are due before Christmas 2026, and the ban has been government policy since 15 June 2026. It is confirmed rather than proposed, and nothing changes for your child before then.
What was decided. On 15 June 2026 the UK confirmed it will ban under-16s from social media, adopting the Australian model. What is still outstanding is the regulations themselves, which the government has said will be laid before Christmas 2026, and the date the ban takes effect, stated as spring 2027.
Which apps are covered. Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X are named. The Technology Secretary, Liz Kendall, has confirmed Bluesky will be covered as well.
Which are not. Messaging apps, specifically WhatsApp and Signal, and YouTube Kids.
Where it goes further than Australia. Three places. Restrictions on livestreaming and on contact from strangers. Default overnight curfews between midnight and 6am for 16- and 17-year-olds, added on 15 July 2026. And the switching off of features designed to keep teenagers scrolling.
AI chatbots are in the package. Bots that simulate romantic or sexual relationships must enforce a minimum age of 18, and intimate functions are restricted for under-18s more widely. That is the part of the UK plan with no equivalent in the law it copied.
What is not yet fixed. Until the regulations are laid, how platforms must check age, and what happens to accounts children already hold, are not settled. A change of Prime Minister in July did not change the policy.
What this means for you right now
If your family is in the UK, nothing closes before spring 2027. An account your child holds now will not disappear in the meantime, and there is no action to take this term.
The useful list is the excluded one, not the banned one. WhatsApp, Signal and YouTube Kids carry no new obligations, and they are where a child goes when an account closes. Six months into Australia’s ban, more than 85% of under-16s were still logging in. A ban changes where children are, faster than it changes whether they are online.
If you have a 15-year-old, work out now what happens at 16. The curfew rules apply to 16- and 17-year-olds, so a child who ages out of the ban does not age out of the restrictions. That is a conversation worth having before the regulations land rather than after.
Wherever you are, the UK has copied Australia and then added two things Australia does not have: overnight curfews and rules for AI companion bots. Those are the parts other countries will look at next.
Where all 47 countries stand, with the date each entry was last checked, is in the tracker. The UK row is updated whenever the position moves.
Checked 8 September 2026 against the Wired Parents tracker, which is verified country by country each edition.
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