Starmer ‘shifts position’ on Australian-style social media legislation for UK

As the UK government appears to pare down its national digital ID plan, it is simultaneously warming to the idea of legislation that puts age restrictions on social media.

The prospect has been floating around the UK since at least December 10, 2025, when Australia’s precedent-setting social media law went into effect, barring kids under 16 from having social media accounts. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, previously opposed to the idea, has now gone on record to say he has shifted his position on the issue.

A report from the Guardian quotes Starmer at a meeting of the parliamentary Labour party, saying “we are looking at Australia, there are different ways you can enforce it.”

The idea has traction across the political spectrum. Its most unlikely supporter is Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who says he is open to testing the concept once Australia has had more time to measure the effects. “Let’s see the Australian experiment, let’s see how it works and let’s make our minds up,” Farage says.

In this, he agrees with the Age Verification Providers Association (AVP), which advocates for age assurance providers, but has also acknowledged that “the Australian regime is still bedding in” and will be refined as it takes root.

Gov’t has eyes on Australia, heart in Virginia

Andy Lulham, CEO of UK age assurance provider Verifymy, believes that while Starmer and company may hope to pursue restrictions in the Australian model, the UK is probably more likely to land on something that looks like recent developments in the U.S.

Since the start of 2026, Lulham says, Virginia has been enforcing a new law that incorporates time limits for users under 16. Unless underage users have explicit, verified parental consent, they will be limited to an hour a day on major platforms. “Short of a full ban, this could be a tempting policy for the UK, giving parents the option to allow their children additional time on social media.”

While he notes that age checks, “whether conducted by social media platforms themselves or highly effective methods like email-based and facial-age estimation,” will still be needed to ensure time limits are applied to the correct users, there is plenty of middle ground between no regulation at all and Australia’s position.

Lulham – who has appeared on the Biometric Update Podcast to discuss age assurance in the UK – advocates for a “holistic and flexible approach” that would “ensure more high-risk features of social media like direct messaging are age-gated, while other safety tools like AI-driven content moderation are used to prevent exposure to harmful or age-inappropriate material.”

Article Topics

age verification  |  Australia  |  biometrics  |  social media  |  UK age verification  |  UK digital ID  |  VerifyMy