HOW THE SOCIAL MEDIA BAN COULD RESHAPE HOW ALL OF US USE THE INTERNET

Summary from the TLDR Marketing newsletter

The UK's planned under-16 social media ban could force millions of adults to verify their identity just to access major platforms, changing how the internet is used for everyone, not just kids. In Australia, where a similar ban took effect in December 2025, 7 in 10 under-16s who already had accounts still retain some access, raising doubts about how enforceable these rules are. The tradeoff is child protection versus increased data collection, since age verification gives more personal information to the same platforms it aims to restrict.