Overview
- Ministers made a binding pledge to impose age or functionality limits for under-16s, ending a Lords–Commons standoff and drawing praise from bereaved parents who vowed to hold the government to its word.
- Officials said the curbs will target addictive feeds, harmful algorithmic content, and risky stranger‑pairing features, with possible overnight curfews considered on top of the core limits.
- Baroness Smith set the delivery clock to a three‑month progress report, then up to 12 months to write regulations, with only one six‑month extension allowed in exceptional cases.
- Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said she plans to publish the government’s proposals before summer and hopes Parliament can pass a bill by the end of the year.
- Debate now shifts to enforcement, with lessons from Australia showing teens can work around bans with VPNs and age checks can raise privacy risks if they rely on ID uploads or facial analysis.