Technology Secretary Peter Kyle revealed he was “watching very carefully” the introduction of TikTok’s 10pm curfew for users under 16 and examining tools for parents to switch off access at set times.
“These are things I am looking at,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “I’m not going to act on something that will have a profound impact on every single child in the country without making sure that the evidence supports it.”
The proposal came amid concerns about how the “addictive” nature of social media was interrupting sleep schedules and disrupting schooling and family life.
Mr Kyle said he was considering enforcement options under the Online Safety Act following regulator Ofcom’s publication of the Children’s Code. He described the new rules as a “sea change” under which parents can expect their child’s social media experience to “look and feel different”.
Mr Kyle said he would not be “short of encouraging Ofcom to use its powers to the full” to fine social media companies and imprison offenders. The Online Safety Act began coming into effect last month and requires platforms to follow new codes of practice set by the regulator Ofcom, in order to keep users safe online.
It comes after the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which finds and helps remove abuse imagery online, said 291,273 reports of child sexual abuse imagery were reported in 2024.
In its annual report, the organisation said it was seeing rising numbers of cases being driven by threats, including AI-generated sexual abuse content, sextortion and the malicious sharing of nude or sexual imagery.
