United Kingdom ministers have launched an intensive lobbying effort to avert a potential backlash from the Donald Trump administration over Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s newly announced ban on social media use for under-16s.
UK government officials said they had spent weeks engaging with senior US officials and President Trump’s team to reassure them that the policy was not targeted at American technology companies, according to The Guardian.
The ban, which applies to platforms such as X, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok, makes the UK one of the first countries to impose broad restrictions on children’s access to social media, following a similar move by Australia earlier this year.
However, British officials are mindful of the risk of retaliation from Trump, who is due to meet Starmer at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains this week and has previously threatened to impose “a big tariff” on the UK unless it scrapped its digital services tax.
According to a person familiar with the discussions, ministers adopted a three-pronged strategy: engaging directly with technology companies, briefing the US administration in advance, and countering misconceptions about the policy through media outreach.
They added, “This is about protecting children in Britain, not taking on US tech.”
While President Donald Trump had not publicly commented on the proposed measures, Elon Musk, the owner of X, criticised the policy, posting on the platform, “This censorship law is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The real goal is to enable the UK government to track everyone.”
The UK’s proposals go further than similar measures introduced in Australia. In addition to imposing age restrictions on several social media platforms, the government plans to prohibit under-16s from livestreaming, ban adults from making unsolicited contact with children through gaming platforms, and prevent anyone under 18 from interacting with so-called “romantic” chatbots.
Several services will be exempt from the new restrictions, including YouTube Kids, Lego Play and Google Classroom, which are considered child-focused or educational platforms.
Ministers are also preparing an additional package of measures expected to be announced next month.
These are set to include late-night social media curfews for 16- and 17-year-olds as part of broader efforts to reduce young people’s exposure to online harms.
