Teenagers aged 16 and 17 in the UK could have their access to major social media platforms automatically restricted overnight under new government plans aimed at improving sleep, concentration and family life.
Apps including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube would be unavailable by default between midnight and 6am, although users would still be able to disable the curfew by changing their account settings.
The proposals would also require platforms to switch off features considered particularly addictive, including auto-play and infinite scrolling. Ministers believe the combined measures could help teenagers sleep better, remain focused at school or college and spend more time away from their screens.
However, critics have questioned whether a curfew that can easily be turned off would provide meaningful protection, while some children’s safety groups have described the wider proposals as fragmented and lacking ambition.
The measures follow an announcement in June that children under the age of 16 would be banned from accessing a range of social media platforms altogether.
“These measures will be crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college, and spend more quality time with family and friends, all of which are fundamental to building a happy, healthy and fulfilling adult life,” said Technology Secretary Liz Kendall.
“We want young people to enjoy the benefits of technology while having the tools to make the online world a place where they can thrive.”
Laura Trott, the Conservative shadow education secretary, dismissed the proposals as a “dog’s dinner”.
“Either they think 16 and 17-year-olds should be on social media or they don’t, but curfews they can simply switch off won’t achieve anything,” she said.
Further measures are also being considered to help children use artificial intelligence chatbots more safely. These could include requiring providers to introduce regular breaks for users under the age of 18.
The government intends to put the proposals before Parliament by the end of 2026, with the aim of introducing them alongside the planned social media ban for under-16s next spring.
However, children’s charities and digital safety experts have raised concerns about whether an overnight restriction would be effective and how it could affect vulnerable young people.
“While we welcome these measures for older teens, this latest move is yet another piecemeal set of announcements not the comprehensive plan for children’s safety that’s required,” said Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation.
He added that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “leaves office having announced a social media ban without a plan” – with his likely successor Andy Burnham to “inherit a series of missed opportunities”.
Curfew Trials Show Sleep Benefits
The announcement follows a government trial involving 300 teenagers and their families across the UK.
Participants were placed into different groups, with some having their social media apps disabled entirely, others blocked from using them between 9pm and 7am, and another group limited to one hour of social media use each day. Some teenagers experienced no restrictions, allowing researchers to compare the results over one month.
A report published on Tuesday found that the overnight curfew produced the clearest improvements in sleep. Families also reported more engaging and communicative evenings, while parents found the restriction easier to manage than the other options.
The report said the curfew was also the most practical of the three approaches to enforce.
“These findings show what parents have been telling us all along: when children spend less time on social media, the benefits are real,” Kendall said of the findings.
However, Pete Etchells, professor of science communication at Bath Spa University, warned against drawing firm conclusions from a relatively limited trial.
“This is a small study that is one part of the puzzle in trying to understand how children and parents will navigate technology restrictions in a practical way,” he said.
Questions Remain Over Enforcement
The proposed restrictions follow the approach taken by Australia, which introduced a ban on social media use for children under 16 in December.
Under the Australian rules, platforms were required to close accounts belonging to underage users and prevent them from creating new ones.
However, the restrictions have faced criticism after many teenagers reported that they could still access platforms covered by the ban. This has raised wider questions about the reliability of age-verification systems and whether similar measures could be effectively enforced in the UK.
Concerns have also been raised about whether children could use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to bypass age checks.
The government said on Tuesday that research it commissioned had found little evidence that large numbers of children were using VPNs to get around the restrictions.
