Trump administration warns Keir Starmer against imposing social media ban on millions of Britons

The statement published by the US Government said: “The United States does not categorically oppose age assurance measures, but we urge careful consideration of their scope and implementation.”

It added: “We favour narrowly targeted requirements primarily with respect to pornographic and adult commercial content (e.g., online gambling, tobacco sales, alcohol sales), rather than broad social media bans.”

The Government’s rollout of its social media policies coincide with London Tech Week, where Sir Keir called on tech companies to “introduce device controls” which would prevent children from sending and receiving nude images.

Labour is expected to introduce an social media ban partially inspired by Australia’s social media ban, but the proposal will be more nuanced – limiting certain features and sites to different age groups rather than a blanket under 16 ban.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said a minister’s recent trip to Australia highlighted the importance of age verification methods.

“If we were to do this, you would definitely have to look at how you make sure that there’s proper age verification and compliance,” she said.

In its statement, the White House said it “strongly supports privacy-preserving age assurance technologies”.

“We strongly oppose regulations that require or create conditions that compel platforms to collect government-issued IDs (e.g., driver’s licenses, passports), which create serious privacy and security risks, encourage surveillance systems vulnerable to abuse, and chill freedom of speech,” the US Government added.

It is expected some social media platforms focused on “educational content” would be exempted from a ban.

Those close to the plans have raised concerns that tech companies would launch legal action over the inclusion of their platforms in one category or another.

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These are likely to be challenged through a judicial review (JR), with one senior Government source telling The Times a social media ban would “heavily JR’d”.

Sources within the tech industry said the complexity of the proposals would make legal challenges more likely.

One said: “It’s going to be a really big bunfight. You could be in a situation where, for instance, TikTok and Instagram are banned and YouTube Kids isn’t as long as they don’t have Shorts.

“At that point Instagram will say they have restrictions for teen accounts available and why can’t they be exempt?”

The US Government have also said it had concerns about regulations which could “impose disproportionate compliance burdens on American companies or that apply to one platform but not similar services”.

Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, is set to publish guidance on children’s screen time, to be published in autumn.

Writing in The Telegraph, she said the Government guidance would answer “practical, evidence-based and focused on questions parents are already asking: what does a healthy balance look like, and when should my child get their first smartphone?”

Mr Trump’s administration said it “favours parental empowerment” over Government mandates on social media usage limits and time controls.

“Parents should be able to control their children’s online experiences, not prescribed one-size-fits-all government restrictions,” the White House said.

Ms Kendall has also warned that age verification would not be a “one and done” solution, adding that any government would need to “continually” examine the issue.

A UK G spokesman said: “As is standard practice, we do not engage in speculation around hypothetical announcements.

“We’ve been clear that we are determined to act quickly, but we will do so in a way that is effective, enforceable and genuinely keeps children safe. As we’ve previously said, we will set out the government’s response by the summer, and importantly we already have the powers to act within months rather than years.”

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