UK Weighs Expanding Under-16 Social Media Ban to YouTube Kids, Spotify and Lego Play Over Recommenders

UK ministers have swung toward a catch-all expansion of the under-16 social media ban that would capture any service built on recommender systems and user-generated content, pulling in YouTube Kids, Spotify, Lego Play and up to 150 sites by March. The June 2026 announcement had promised to exempt education, e-commerce and music streaming — this proposal walks that back. Cabinet review is this week with a parliamentary bill due in December.