The UK’s social media ban for under-16s: What it means for brands, business and digital marketing

Yes, this is a HUGE deal and can completely change how your brand approaches social media, but let’s not press the big red button just yet!

The UK social media ban for under-16s allows your brand to redefine your social media presence and move away from ‘catching the trends’ social media style and focus more on what really matters, capturing an engaged audience.

What the ban covers

According to the Government's site, the model follows a similar layout to that of Australia’s social media ban. This includes platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and X.

They have made it clear that they do not intend to ban messaging services such as WhatsApp. The ban will also include the restriction of ‘high-risk features’ like livestreaming.

We do not know yet how they are going to police the UK social media ban, but from what we have seen with age restrictions previously, it’s most likely to be a facial recognition and ID check.

It's also important to remember that the ban hasn't come into place yet and likely won't until late Spring 2027, so there's no need to rush into rash decisions.

The bigger picture

This ban may only be prevalent in Australia and the UK right now, but this is just the start. Other countries are following in Australia’s footsteps with the likes of France, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Thailand and the Netherlands all signalling they will act (Newsonair).

As the world continues to understand the impact social media is having on the youth of today, more bans will follow. Right now, it’s targeting the ban of under 16s but in the future, we could even see bans for all under 18.

What this means for social media marketing

As a marketing agency, we have seen brands leap into social media marketing from the 10 metre diving board and as soon as they land, remember they can’t swim. Here’s the thought process we see most commonly with brands when creating a social media plan:

Step 1: Create an account
Step 2: What new trends can we jump on?
Step 3: Are there any new trends we can do?
Step 4: Why don’t we try make a trend?
Step 5: New trend just dropped! Let’s do a video on it!

I clearly love trends, don’t I? On a serious note, just because something is trending doesn’t mean you have to touch upon it! For example, if your brand is in the public sector, the latest TikTok dance trend might not bring the right audience to the page.

With the UK social media ban for under 16s, it gives you a chance to strip back your social media plan and truly look at what your audience is interested in. Ask yourself a few small questions:

• What is your demographic?

• What does your demographic interact with?

• Should your content aim to entertain or inform?

• What tone of voice should your content take?

• What do competitor’s do that works?

• How can you engage your demographic?

By answering these questions, you can start to see what content would perform better in terms of conversions and engagement.

What if your audience is under 16?

Now some brands may be panicking and asking the question above. It just means your social media strategy may need to be tweaked. Instead of directly targeting the under 16, why not try targeting their key influencers? This can be teachers, parents, guardians, siblings or any adult that they may look up to and listen to.

If you’re promoting a new video game for ages 10+, try targeting late teens who may have younger siblings. If you’re promoting a college, try targeting parents of teenagers. Every under 16 has an older key influencer in their life.

The UK social media ban isn’t the end of social media marketing for under 16s, it’s an evolution.

The future of paid social media

As a paid social media agency, we have already had clients ask us about what the UK social media ban for under 16s means for paid ads. As of today, large social media giants such as Meta have expressed their concerns with the ban, but no information has been provided on how this will affect digital media planning and ad targeting.

We know the ban will cause a disruption to paid social media advertisement, but how big this disruption will be is yet to be seen. We’ll be keeping a close eye on Meta’s, Snapchat’s and TikTok’s next moves.

It’s important to point out that currently, you can only run brand awareness campaigns targeted at under 16s, so the ban should not affect conversion based campaigns.

Struggling with your strategy?

If the UK social media ban or any other external factor is causing your brand issues in creating a conversion based social media strategy, contact us today and see what tricks we have up our sleeves!