Social media ban will let tech companies 'off the hook', says Sir Nick Clegg
The former Meta executive has warned people should not think a ban was “problem solved”
Former Meta executive Sir Nick Clegg has said banning under-16s from social media will be “letting tech companies off the hook”.
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The former deputy prime minister warned people should not think a ban was “problem solved”, and instead children are likely to start using apps which are “much less safe”.
In June, the Labour Government announced under-16s in the UK could be banned from using social media by spring next year.
The move was welcomed by parents and child safety campaigners, who said young people need to be protected from harmful online content.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight and 5Live, Sir Nick, who was Meta’s president of global affairs from 2022 until early 2025, said he had a lot of sympathy with the intention of a ban.
“But weirdly, you’re almost letting the tech companies off the hook,” he said.
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“Because from their point of view, they think, ‘okay, well, then we won’t bother doing all the difficult… engineering work to work out exactly who’s what age and how they use a different app to adults and so on.”
The former Liberal Democrat leader added: “What we will find, I’m afraid, over the next few years, is that the problem hasn’t gone, that kids will be still online, they’ll actually be using a whole bunch of apps which are much less safe.“
And the tech companies in Silicon Valley will think, well, we don’t have to spend money on building what I think is the best thing to do.”
The ban, which was announced in June, is set to take effect in Spring 2027.
Decisive action – backed by nine in 10 parents – is expected to be brought to Parliament before Christmas.
The decision comes after growing pressure for the government to make changes to how children use social media.
Australia, Brazil and Indonesia have all already put in place strict age-related restrictions for social media.
User-to-user platforms, whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material, will fall under the ban, as will algorithms.
This means platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X will face a ban.
However, the Government does not intend for messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal to be included in the social media ban.
They are also cracking down on online gaming platforms and livestreaming where "at the moment strangers can contact any child unchecked".
Meta is the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads and also makes virtual reality headsets and smart glasses.