Britain’s upper house of parliament voted on Wednesday to ban under-16s from using social media, increasing pressure on the government to match a similar ban passed in Australia.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday he was not ruling out any options and promised action to protect children, but his government wants to await the results of a hearing this summer before legislating.
Calls have mounted across the opposition and within the ruling Labor Party for Britain to follow Australia, where under-16s have been banned from social media applications since 10 December.
The amendment by opposition Conservative lawmaker John Nash was passed by 261 votes to 150 in the House of Lords, co-sponsored by a Labor and a Liberal Democrat peer.
“Tonight, peers are putting our children’s future first,” Nash said. “This vote begins the process of stopping the catastrophic damage social media is doing to a generation.”
Before the vote, Downing Street said the government would not accept the amendment, which now goes to the Labour-controlled House of Commons. More than 60 Labor MPs have called on Starmer to back a ban.
Public figures, including actor Hugh Grant, called on the government to support the proposal, saying parents alone cannot tackle the harms of social media.
Some child protection groups warn that a ban would create a false sense of security.
A YouGov poll in December found that 74% of Britons supported a ban. The Online Safety Act requires secure age verification for harmful content.
