THE FRONT PORCH: Social media restrictions for youth

By Dakota Baker, RealWV

Recently, the United Kingdom has set forth restrictions regarding youth and access to social media. 

As of July this year, older teenagers are facing an “overnight social media curfew.” Between midnight and 6 a.m., apps such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube would become unavailable. 

However, this feature can be easily disabled by any teen by changing their account settings. 

In addition to the curfew restrictions, the United Kingdom wants to disable addictive features embedded in social media, such as autoplay and infinite scroll. The hope is that disabling these features, along with the curfew, will improve focus, sleep and quality of life. 

Before this announcement, the United Kingdom had already announced its plans to ban children under the age of 16 from using social media. According to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, “Apps including TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram will become inaccessible for children”.

If the regulation passes, the ban would take effect spring 2027. 

While there was some concern from tech companies that this ban would cause children to turn their attention to more unsafe online environments, the prime minister made it clear he was not prepared to compromise the safety and happiness of the children. 

Parents seem to welcome the ban, but think more restrictions need to be put in place for the children ages 16 and 17. 

If these regulations pass in the United Kingdom, should the United States adopt similar policies?