Social Media Ban · Series

Impact on the US & UK

Australia may be first, but the pressure Australia's law puts on the big platforms is being felt everywhere. Here's where the US and UK actually stand — the state-by-state patchwork, the federal KIDS Act, the UK Online Safety Act's age-assurance duties that are already live, and the full under-16 UK ban arriving in Spring 2027.

United States 🇺🇸

No national under-16 ban. A growing patchwork of state laws, most tied up in court — plus federal action moving through Congress.

The state patchwork

Utah's Social Media Regulation Act, Florida's under-14 rule and Texas's SCOPE Act have each set their own age gates and parental-consent rules. Alongside them, a wave of app-store age-verification laws — Utah first, then a string of copy-cats — push the check down to Apple's and Google's stores. Most of these are being challenged on First Amendment grounds and the exact rules keep shifting in court.

Texas SCOPE + app-store law: SCOTUS lets it stand

In July 2026 the US Supreme Court declined to block Texas's SB 2420, letting the state enforce it while the legal fight plays out. The law makes Apple and Google verify every user's age and get parental consent before anyone under 18 can download an app or make an in-app purchase, and requires developers to rate apps by age band. The industry appeal continues, but for now the age gate at the app store is real.

Federal: the KIDS Act (KOSA + COPPA 2.0)

The Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act passed the House 267–117 in June 2026, bundling KOSA and COPPA 2.0 together — strongest-privacy defaults for minors, curbs on "keep scrolling" design tricks, AI-chatbot guardrails. It is currently stalled in the Senate, with free-speech objections that killed an earlier draft still very much alive. Even without passage, the big platforms are quietly building the defaults nationwide because Australia and the UK are forcing them to build it anyway.

United Kingdom 🇬🇧

Age-assurance duties already live. A full under-16 ban passed and scheduled for Spring 2027.

Online Safety Act — already biting

The Online Safety Act's age-assurance duties are in force now, enforced by Ofcom. It's why UK families are seeing selfie checks and ID prompts on all the usual platforms — Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, plus adult sites and increasingly Discord and others under pressure. The Act doesn't ban under-16s outright, but it forces platforms to know reliably who is a child and treat their account accordingly.

Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 — the ban, arriving 2027

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 has passed, and with it the powers for ministers to set a national minimum age for social media. The government has confirmed the under-16 ban will come into force in Spring 2027. Expect the same pattern Australia is living: helpful, imperfect, no substitute for the settings on the device.

What UK parents can do right now

You don't have to wait for 2027. The same three things that work in Australia work in Britain today: proper device-level controls, honest ongoing conversations, and one afternoon of app-by-app lockdown. Everything we teach in the members area applies to any country.

Whichever country you're in, the plan at home is the same

The apps outside the ban are the ones already on your kid's phone. Our step-by-step plan starts there.

Start the Family Lockdown Plan Talk to your kids