Britain’s Top Crime Agencies Back Social Media Ban for Under-16s, Citing Decades of Corporate Negligence

NCA and Police Chiefs Call for Under-16 Social Media Ban Ahead of Consultation Deadline

Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) have jointly called for a ban on social media access for children under 16, warning that technology companies have prioritised profit over child safety for two decades. The intervention comes days before the UK government’s public consultation on the proposed ban closes on 26 May 2025.

NCA Director General Graeme Biggar issued a stark assessment of the industry’s record, stating that the online dangers facing children were entirely foreseeable — and preventable.

“The problem we see has been getting worse, not better, and that is because the companies have chosen not to make child safety a core design principle,” Biggar said. “It’s unrealistic to expect tech companies to prioritise safety over profit unless we legislate to make them do so.”

Six “High-Risk” Features at the Centre of the Debate

The NCA identified six platform features it considers structurally dangerous to minors. These are the basis on which the agencies argue a ban should be enforced.

Both agencies are calling on the government to ban under-16s from accessing any platform that fails to remove these features. They are also pushing for device-level nudity controls preventing users under 18 from taking, sharing, or viewing nude images, and for expanded enforcement powers for media regulator Ofcom.

A “Wild West” With No Regulatory Grip

NPCC Chief Constable Gavin Stephens described the current online environment as a lawless space where harmful actors operate with near-impunity. “Criminals, abusers, fraudsters and extremists roam free in this world,” he said, adding that legislation has consistently failed to keep pace with technological change.

Stephens acknowledged that a ban was a regrettable measure but argued it was now necessary as a forcing mechanism. “We firmly believe that restrictions are needed to be a catalyst for tech companies to make these essential changes,” he said.

He was careful to distance the proposal from any punitive approach toward children or parents. “We are not here to criminalise anyone. We want them to be protected,” Stephens said, anticipating that some minors would attempt to circumvent any restrictions.

The Scale of the Problem

The NCA received 92,000 reports of potential child sexual abuse activity online from technology companies last year — a fourfold increase over the past seven years. The agency estimates that between 710,000 and 840,000 adults in the UK currently pose some degree of sexual risk to children.

Biggar framed the issue in generational terms. “We have already failed two generations of teenagers by abandoning them to the dangers of social media without any form of social safety net,” he said. “The longer we wait, the slower we go, the more children we fail.”

Policy Context: Australia’s Ban as a Catalyst

The UK debate has been accelerated by Australia’s decision in 2024 to prohibit children from accessing a range of major platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and TikTok. The move prompted governments across Europe and beyond to reassess their own regulatory frameworks.

The UK government’s “Growing Up in an Online World” consultation, which invited submissions from young people, parents, and guardians, closes on 26 May. Its outcome is expected to shape whether the government moves toward legislation in the coming parliamentary term.