A social media ban won’t protect children, it’ll just hide them from their parents

As the UK government prepares to reveal the findings of its landmark “Growing up in the online world” consultation this summer, one agency founder is urging policymakers to think carefully before reaching for a blunt instrument. Will Tombs, founder of Buried Agency, warns that restricting under-16s from social media could create a bigger problem than it solves.

“The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act is well-intentioned, but a blanket ban on under-16s accessing social media risks creating a bigger problem than the one it’s trying to solve.

“I built my career because I had access to social media as a teenager. That hands-on experience shaped the path I took after school, and the agency I run today exists because of it. A hard cut-off at 16 would have changed that trajectory entirely, and I don’t think my story is unique.

“But the more pressing concern isn’t career prospects. It’s communication. If a child accesses social media in secret because it’s officially banned, and knows they’ll be in trouble if a parent finds out, how likely are they to come forward when something goes wrong online? We’d be trading one risk for a worse one: driving the behaviour underground and closing off the exact lines of communication that keep children safe.

“We’ve already seen how quickly children find workarounds. There’s footage of kids drawing faces on their thumbs to fool webcam age verification (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SGA8d2C4QIE). If that’s the creative problem-solving being applied to a basic login screen, a legislative ban isn’t going to hold.

“Child protection online is a genuine priority, and the Online Safety Act already places real obligations on platforms to enforce age-appropriate experiences. The focus should be on making that work, backed by parents and schools giving children the tools to navigate social media safely, rather than a blunt instrument that pushes the problem out of sight.”