British prime minister Keir Starmer has announced that his government will introduce a ban on social media use for children under 16. The ban will apply to Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X. Messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal stay outside of it, and AI chatbots that play the role of a „romantic companion" will have to prove they are used only by adults.

The British government claims its ban will go further than any other country's, and it could take effect by next spring. London joins an ever-longer list of states reaching for this - Australia was the first to introduce such a ban late last year, and Canada, France, and Denmark are preparing their own variants. The goal, according to the announcement, is „to put the power back in the hands of parents."

Starmer made no secret of who he blames. „Every parent sees it with their own eyes - social media makes children unhappy," he said, pointing out that the platforms are „designed to cause addiction" with tricks like the infinite scroll that keeps you locked in for hours. That's a rarity - a politician saying out loud that the product is built to steal attention, not just to connect people.

Still, experts immediately asked whether such a blanket ban can even be enforced. How do you verify age without every child handing over an ID or a face scan? That's where a ban meant for protection easily turns into a machine to track everyone. And the question that concerns us directly: once Western Europe sets the standard, how long before the region copies the law - and whether, here, it'll be done for the children or for control. When a similar proposal appears in the Balkans, it's worth asking exactly who gets access to the face verification.