Badenoch said companies such as TikTok and Snapchat would be compelled to prevent under-16s from accessing their services, arguing that many parents are finding it difficult to regulate their children’s social media use without external support

The UK Conservative Party says it will require social media companies to block children under 16 from their platforms if it returns to power, placing responsibility on tech firms to enforce stricter age verification, according to party leader Kemi Badenoch.

Badenoch said companies such as TikTok and Snapchat would be compelled to prevent under-16s from accessing their services, arguing that many parents are finding it difficult to regulate their children’s social media use without external support.

Speaking to the BBC, the Conservative leader said parents want to limit their children’s exposure to social media but “don’t know how,” adding that government action targeted at technology firms would help protect young people online.

She said the Conservatives would also seek to ban smartphones in schools as part of wider efforts to curb what she described as the harmful effects of excessive screen time on children.

Appearing on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch said the use of “addictive” social media apps “correlates quite strongly” with rising mental health problems among young people.

Rejecting claims that the proposals amount to government overreach, she said the approach was a “very Conservative policy” designed to protect children from harm.

“We tell children what to do all the time. Children are not adults. Freedom is for adults,” she said.

“Adults should be able to cope with that and manage themselves. Children, we need to protect.”

In a post on her X account on Sunday, Badenoch said students she spoke with last April agreed that phones should be banned in schools because of the content they were exposed to online.

She added that bullying, violent and extreme content does not stop at the school gate but follows children home as well.

“It’s time to introduce age limits for social media and let our children be children,” she wrote.

Under the proposal, social media firms would be required to deploy robust age-verification systems to block under-16s, following the example of Australia, which became the first country to introduce a similar policy last month.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the government would monitor how Australia’s ban works in practice, stressing the need for a balanced approach.

Speaking on the same programme, she said the Online Safety Act, passed under the previous Conservative government, already gives Ofcom stronger powers to protect young people from harmful online content.

She added that the challenge is to ensure children are safe online and offline while still allowing them to benefit from the positive aspects of the digital world.

The Labour government has so far stopped short of introducing an England-wide ban on smartphones in schools, leaving such decisions to headteachers, though ministers are considering limits on the amount of time children can spend on social media.

Despite this, some Labour figures have called for tougher measures, with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham saying he agreed with much of what Badenoch has said about young people’s social media use.

The Liberal Democrats said they have long raised concerns about children’s online safety, criticising the Conservatives for failing to support a proposal last year to raise the digital age of data consent to 16.

Separately, the NASUWT teachers’ union has also called for a similar ban after taking evidence from its members.

Since last July, social media platforms have been required under the Online Safety Act to prevent children from accessing harmful content related to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and pornography.

The law is enforced by Ofcom, with penalties for non-compliance including heavy fines, jail terms for executives or, in the most serious cases, a ban in the UK.

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