Скачать или смотреть The Social Media Ban is Coming to the UK — Here's What Australia Already Learned

In this video, I break down the UK’s fast-moving push to *ban under-16s from social media* — and why Australia has just provided the clearest real-world test yet.

On *21 January 2026**, the House of Lords voted **261–150* in support of an under-16s ban amendment, putting the spotlight on what the Commons does next. ([The Guardian][1])

Australia’s ban went live on *10 December 2025* — and within weeks regulators reported roughly *4.7 million* under-age accounts removed or restricted across major platforms. ([Reuters][2])

I also connect this to the UK’s child mental health pressures: referrals to NHS Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services have **tripled from ~40,000/month (2016) to nearly ~120,000/month (2024)**, alongside growing concerns about algorithmic feeds and harmful content exposure. ([Mind][3])

Finally, we look at the practical “how”: *privacy-preserving age assurance* is accelerating, including OpenAge’s *AgeKey* approach (reusable “yes/no” age signals rather than sharing identity everywhere). ([OpenAge Initiative][4])

*Chapters*
0:00 UK vote + why this is different
0:20 Australia’s results (4.7m accounts)
1:35 Why this matters for child mental health
2:35 The “parent trap” explained
3:25 Addressing the main objections
4:30 Age assurance: what’s now possible
5:25 What the UK should do next

*Question for you:* Should the UK follow Australia with an under-16 ban — or is there a better alternative? Comment *BAN* or *NO BAN* and tell me why.

#UKPolitics #OnlineSafety #ChildMentalHealth #SocialMedia #DigitalWellbeing #Parenting #Policy #Ofcom #AIandSociety #HeyGen

[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2... "Lords put pressure on Starmer with vote to ban social media for under-16s | Social media ban"
[2]: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pa... "Australia social media ban hits 4.7 million teen accounts in ..."
[3]: https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaign... "Care Before Crisis: our report on young people's mental ..."
[4]: https://openageinitiative.org/?utm_so... "A public-interest initiative to make age private, reusable, and ..."