UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled sweeping new rules to keep children safe online.
On Monday, February 16, Starmer extended the rules to AI chatbots, paving the way for a potential under-16 social media ban following the Grok AI scandal involving Elon Musk’s X platform.
With these new rules, the government plans to close a legal loophole that previously exempted AI chatbots from key provisions of the Online Safety ACT.
This means that AI chatbots such as Musk’s Grok and OpenAI’s ChatGPT must now prevent children from accessing harmful content or face fines of up to 10% of global revenue.
Starmer said: “These AI chatbots form friendships with children that can take them all sorts of places they shouldn’t go.”
The main key actions include:
- The Government plans to amend the Child Wellbeing Bill with “Henry VIII powers” to implement any future ban on social media for under-16s without any hindrance
- AI chatbots will follow illegal content duties similar to traditional social media platforms, limit infinite scrolling and put age limits on VPNs used to bypass restrictions
- Ministers will introduce “Jool’s Law” requiring platforms to retain deceased children’s data within five days of a death being reported and make it available to coroners
The chief executive of Britain’s leading children’s charity, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, warned: “Social media has produced huge benefits but lots of harm. AI will be it on steroids if we’re not careful.”
