UK government to pilot social media restrictions for teenagers in 300 households

The UK government is piloting social media bans, app time limits and digital curfews in the homes of 300 teenagers, as part of a six-week trial to assess potential measures to improve children’s online safety and wellbeing.

The pilot, led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), will run across all four nations of the UK and sit alongside the government’s national consultation on children’s digital wellbeing, which has already received nearly 30,000 responses from parents and children.

Participants will be divided into four groups. One group of parents will be taught how to use parental controls to remove or entirely disable access to selected social media apps, simulating a social media ban at home.

A second group will introduce a one-hour-per-day cap on popular social media platforms used by teenagers, including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

The third group will block social media access between 9pm and 7am, while a fourth group will maintain existing usage patterns to act as a control group.

Parents and children involved in the pilot will be interviewed before and after the trial to assess the impact of the restrictions on factors such as sleep, schoolwork and family life.

The government said it will also examine practical challenges, including how easy it is to set up parental controls and whether teenagers find ways to bypass them.

Data from the pilots will be assessed by government officials and a panel of academic experts, alongside responses to the digital wellbeing consultation, to inform potential future policy decisions on children’s online lives.

“We are determined to give young people the childhood they deserve and to prepare them for the future,” said Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. “This is why we are listening to parents, children and experts with our consultation, as well as testing different options in the real world.

“These pilots will give us the evidence we need to take the next steps, informed by the experiences of families themselves.”

Alongside the household trials, a separate large-scale scientific study examining the effects of reduced social media use among adolescents is set to begin later this year. The independent research, funded by Wellcome Trust, will be co-led by the Bradford Institute for Health Research and University of Cambridge psychologist Professor Amy Orben.

The study is expected to involve around 4,000 students aged 12 to 15 from secondary schools in Bradford and will examine outcomes including anxiety, sleep quality, wellbeing, body image, social comparison, bullying, school absences and time spent with family and friends.

The government said the pilot and wider research programme are intended to support evidence-based policy development as it considers further measures to improve children’s digital wellbeing.