Britain is considering an Australian-style ban on social media to better protect children online, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer (in the picture) warning yesterday they risk being pulled into “a world of endless scrolling, anxiety and comparison”.

Starmer, according to a Reuters report from London, said the government was prepared to take robust action, a day after it said it would examine whether features such as infinite scrolling and the age at which children can access platforms should be restricted.

The Labour government said it would examine evidence from around the world on suggested proposals including looking at whether a social media ban for children would be effective and how best to make such a ban work if it were imposed.

“This is a hugely complex issue – so it’s important it’s properly considered,” Starmer said on Substack. Ministers will visit Australia, which last month became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, to learn from their approach, it said on Monday.

The government did not specify an age threshold, saying it was exploring a ban “for children under a certain age” and other measures such as better age checks and looking into whether the current digital age of consent was too low.The proposals come as governments and regulators worldwide contend with the risks of exposing children to social media, as well as the impact of screen time on their development and mental health.

The recent rapid explosion of AI-generated content online has exacerbated those concerns, highlighted this month by a public outcry over reports of Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot generating non-consensual sexual images, including of minors.

The British government has already set out plans for an outright ban on artificial intelligence nudification tools, while working to stop children being able to take, share or view nude images on their devices, it said yesterday in a statement.

The government said it was also considering removing or limiting functionalities that could drive addictive or compulsive use of social media.