Select committee: Education Committee
Conclusion 15
1st Report - Growing up in the online world: The Education Committee’s response to the Government’s consultation
Published 21 May 2026
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Screen Time and Social Media All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
There is a compelling case for an outright statutory ban on social media access for under-16s in order to reset the relationship children and families have with digital devices and social media, and to arrest the current harm. The evidence demonstrates that current regulatory and voluntary approaches have failed to prevent widespread exposure of children to serious harm, and that targeted or optional mitigations have not been implemented consistently or effectively. A clear legal boundary would provide greater protection for children, clarity for parents and carers, and schools, and a stronger basis for holding platforms to account for the environments they create. (Conclusion, Paragraph 32)
From: Education Committee, 1st Report - Growing up in the online world: The Education Committee’s response to the Government’s consultation (HC 187), 21 May 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 10 September 2026 (deadline 21 July 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with the Committee's recommendations on child online safety, citing its announced restrictions on social media services for under-16s and forthcoming parental screen use guidance.
- On a statutory ban for under-16s, it agrees and states it will "ban social media companies from offering their services to under-16s", using "a similar model as Australia". It intends to lay regulations "before the end of 2026".
- It agrees to publish screen use guidance for parents and carers of 5 to 18-year-olds, "to be published in Autumn 2026". The guidance will "avoid blanket rules, including on screen time".
- On phones in schools, it agrees on guidance for exemptions, noting existing statutory guidance already provides for exceptions, and has "committed to reviewing and if necessary, updating, the mobile phones guidance by September 2027".
- On research access to platform data, it agrees and "will consult later this year on a researcher access to data regime" under the Online Safety Act.