Discussions about the digital safety and health of young people in the UK are taking a different dimension with new legislation.
According to the government's plan; Popular apps such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube will automatically become inaccessible to users aged 16 and 17 from midnight to 6am.
The regulation also aims to turn off by default addictive features such as “autoplay” and “infinite scrolling” that cause young people to spend long hours on social media. However, teens can disable this restriction by changing their account settings.
The flexibility of the application caused controversy
Child safety advocates and the opposition say the new regulation is insufficient because it allows users to disable this restriction in the settings.
Activists argue that offering young people a lockable barrier would not be an effective solution, while opposition figures argue that a midnight ban, which can be easily deactivated, would not produce concrete results.
Government officials say this restriction, combined with addictive algorithm barriers, will make the UK one of the most determined countries in the world when it comes to policing tech companies.
Experts warn of possible risks
The planned measures also led to different opinions among experts. Some digital rights experts warn that midnight restrictions could leave young people who are at risk or in need of help unable to access reliable sources of support at night.
On the other hand, technology analysts also point out that young people can resort to virtual private networks (VPN) to overcome such hurdles. The government announced that it does not intend to restrict VPN use at this time for general internet security and privacy reasons.
The bill will be in Parliament at the end of the year
The government plans to submit this new legal regulation, which includes additional measures for the safe use of artificial intelligence-powered chatbots, to Parliament by the end of 2026.
The aim is to implement these restrictions at the same time as social media bans for under-16s, which are due to come into force in spring next year.
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