00:22Like Australia, the British government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer,
00:27is considering a ban on social media use for children under 16, potentially as early as this year.
00:36A public consultation launched last month is examining the proposal,
00:42and ministers are preparing legislative changes that could be introduced within months of the consultation's conclusion.
00:49Beyond the UK, Spain, Greece and Slovenia have also indicated they are exploring similar restrictions.
00:56Scrutiny has intensified further after Elon Musk's flagship AI chatbot, Grok, was reported to generate non-consensual sexualized images, raising
01:08broader concerns about online harms.
01:11Britain's technology minister, Liz Kendall, said the UK's 2023 Online Safety Act is among the world's strictest regulatory regimes.
01:21However, she noted it does not fully cover one-to-one interactions with AI chatbots unless content is shared with
01:29other users.
01:30The government now plans to close this loophole, arguing that regulatory gaps cannot remain after legislation that took nearly eight
01:39years to pass has finally come into force.
01:42Speaking to Times Radio, Kendall said she's concerned about the psychological impact of AI chatbots on children and young people,
01:50noting that some minors are forming one-to-one relationships with systems not designed with child safety in mind.
01:58She added that the government will also consult on introducing automatic data preservation orders when a child dies, enabling investigators
02:07to secure critical online evidence.
02:10Other proposals include powers to curb stranger pairing on gaming platforms and to restrict the sending or receiving of nude
02:18images.
02:19The government is expected to outline its proposals before June.
02:22While framed as child protection measures, the proposals could carry wider implications for adult privacy and access to online services,
02:32and have already contributed to tensions with the United States over free speech concerns and the global reach of UK
02:39regulation.
02:40The measures are expected to be introduced as amendments to existing crime and child protection legislation currently before parliament.
02:49In December 2025, Australia became the first country to ban social media use for children under 16.
02:57Since then, several governments have begun reviewing similar policies in response to growing concerns about online safety.
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