Great Britain risks new battle with Trump over social media ban

Great Britain’s new social media ban for kids under 16 is threatening to escalate longtime tensions with the Trump administration over internet and social media policy.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed this week his nation is moving forward with the ban, less than a week after the White House urged Downing Street against it, citing concerns over free speech and burdensome hurdles for American tech companies.

Starmer’s move suggests Britain is committed to its digital regulatory agenda, even if it risks another fight with the Trump administration.

“The timing tells you most of what you need to know,” said Tobias Feakin, Australia’s former inaugural ambassador for cyber affairs and critical technology. He added the ban “is a deliberate signal that London will set its own rules on online safety” despite what the White House prefers.

Starmer fielded numerous questions on Monday over whether he’s prepared for retaliation from President Trump, who has threatened higher tariffs in past disputes over digital regulations.

The prime minister largely brushed off disagreement with Trump on the issue, just hours before meeting with the president and other world leaders at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in France.

“I honestly think that across world leaders, there’s always been a recognition that leaders have to take steps to protect children,” Starmer told reporters. “I don’t think that’s controversial, but there’ll always be arguments as to exactly what the limits of that are and what rules should be in place, but I don’t see that as a problem.”

The move makes the United Kingdom the fifth nation to pursue an all-out ban on social media for young kids and teenagers. The under-16 ban will be introduced in Parliament later this year and apply to popular platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and social platform X.

Messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal will not be included. But the ban goes further than other countries’ provisions in that it limits features on gaming and livestreaming platforms to prevent strangers from contacting kids under 16.

“This is a line in the sand,” Starmer said. “Tech giants had their chance and failed, but we’re stepping in to protect children, back parents and set a new normal.”

Australia was the first country to implement an under-16 ban late last year, followed by Indonesia, while countries like Brazil and Canada are considering similar legislation.

Governments and technology giants around the world are facing mounting pressure to prevent kids’ addiction to social media and access to harmful content or contact with strangers, but country leaders vary widely on their approach to get there.

“On child safety, the United States is now the outlier among its own and the G7 at Evian makes that visible,” Feakin said, pointing to Australia and France advancing legislation to ban social media for kids under 15. The G7’s digital and technology ministers also released the first-ever agreement on principles for online safety last month.

While the Trump administration and first lady’s office say kids should be protected online, the White House breaks from allies in its push for light-touch regulation of technology, including social media platforms and artificial intelligence chatbots.

This argument came through last week’s statement from the U.S. Embassy in London, which said most content should be accessible by default, including political speech.

“We believe an open internet is essential to the preservation of free speech,” the embassy stated, adding regulations could “impose disproportionate compliance burdens on American companies.”

Instead, the embassy encouraged parents to manage their kids’ privacy settings, including time control preferences, while shying away from official restrictions.

Vice President Vance warned the U.K. should not go down a “dark path” of losing free speech in a meeting last year with David Lammy, the nation’s deputy prime minister. He also repeatedly criticized the U.K.’s Online Safety Act, which also aims to prevent children from accessing harmful materials online.

Starmer rejected the free-speech argument, telling reporters, “How many people in this room are prepared to defend adult strangers contacting children online?”

“We know what happens when that develops,” Starmer continued, adding, “How many people are prepared to stand up and say that’s free speech, ‘I wouldn’t do anything about it?’”

The ban followed a public comment period in which more than 100,000 parents, industry groups and kids responded. The government said more than 90 percent supported an under-16 ban.

The White House did not publicly comment on the ban, though some online speculated Trump could threaten higher tariffs over the dispute.

Trump has threatened hefty tariffs on multiple European countries if they do not drop the digital services tax on U.S. tech firms. The tax is a 2 percent levy on revenues generated by social media, digital marketplaces and search engines. Less than two months ago, Trump said the U.K. “better be careful,” adding the White House was looking into “a big tariff.”

Starmer’s latest move could reignite these tensions. Feakin suggested “it lands on a relationship already strained by the tariff threats.”

Should Trump do so, British officials appear prepared to take the challenge.

U.K. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told the Guardian she was not concerned “in the slightest” by the Trump administration’s public comments about the proposed ban, and that her priority is “British young people.” She predicted companies would still invest in Britain.

The ban would mostly hit U.S. companies, but a senior U.K. official said this is just because the biggest social media companies are American.

“This is absolutely not about the U.S., far from it,” the official told reporters.

The U.K. said it held various conversations with technology firms ahead of the announcement, though Starmer said he predicted pushback from tech firms.

“I think there’s a lot of alignment about the imperative about protecting kids online,” the official said Monday, adding that some of the social media companies “have different views on how to do that,” but broadly speaking the U.K. has “very good relationships with these countries in other areas.”

If Parliament approves the ban, it is expected to be implemented by spring of next year, the prime minister’s office said.

Other countries are exploring similar avenues, suggesting momentum could be building for this type of regulation.

“This ban is a shift …. what the U.K. proposal really called out to me is that governments are moving from content moderation, like traditional content moderation platforms, to age-appropriate product governance,” Amy Mushahwar, a former cybersecurity information security office and chair of cybersecurity and privacy at Lowenstein Sandler, told The Hill.