UK's under-16 social media ban could swallow YouTube Kids and Lego Play

Britain's under-16 social media ban is ballooning, and the collateral damage could include sites ministers once promised to spare. Sources briefed on the government's proposals say YouTube Kids and other supposedly exempt services risk being swept up, alongside games platforms such as Lego Play. One source close to the talks put the potential reach at up to 150 platforms. The ban is set to come into force in March.

The regulations head to cabinet for signoff this week, and culture secretary Lisa Nandy is expected to lay them before parliament in December. They won't need primary legislation — they'll be tabled as an addition to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act. Companies expect a briefing on the final proposal from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and No 10 in the coming days.

Ministers want a catch-all approach that shuts down workarounds, pointing to Australia's ban, where critics say teens simply migrated to other platforms. The working proposal zeroes in on recommender systems and user-generated content — which puts Spotify technically in scope, though the streaming service has sought reassurances it won't be banned because it isn't primarily social. One industry source listed the confusion: eBay, Lego, YouTube Kids and Spotify all unclear whether they comply. Another was blunter: the whole internet has a recommender system, and the regulation is too broad.

Keir Starmer announced the ban in June, promising exemptions for educational services, e-commerce and music streaming under a narrowly defined list kept under review. Tech firms are now lobbying that stripping out the recommender algorithm would make their sites impossible to run. Online safety minister Ian Murray told MPs that YouTube Kids and Lego Play would have to demonstrate they don't carry harmful algorithms, and that platforms redesigning to drop addictive functions have an off-ramp out of scope — though he admitted that's easier said than delivered.

A second tranche of regulations is expected next spring and could pull in e-commerce players including Vinted, eBay and Depop. After Nandy said in Sunday interviews that Vinted and others were being considered, officials held a panicked call with retailers on Tuesday where several strongly contested the plans, sources say. Murray confirmed to MPs last week that the next phase examines platforms' features and functions, citing Spotify's introduction of stranger conversation tools. One industry figure called it illogical to leave WhatsApp and iMessage alone while banning Vinted and eBay over their messaging capabilities. DCMS has been approached for comment.