How can the UK best help children navigate the online world safely and effectively?

BCS Members survey results

Summary

In March 2026 the UK Government launched ‘Growing up in the online world: a national consultation’. It asks civil society organisations, parents and industry about issues such as whether to limit or ban the use of social media for children.

To inform the consultation, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT surveyed its members to ask where government should focus its policies to ensure they help children and parents live effectively and safely in the digital world.

1,229 members of BCS - all tech professionals in a range of roles from public sector, to industry, to academia - responded to the poll. The research was conducted exclusively with BCS’ membership community, via SurveyMonkey emails, between 22 January to 5 February 2026.

Key findings

1. Should the UK ban under-16s from accessing social media?

Technologists in the BCS membership community were split on the proposal. On balance, professionals responding to the survey, are in favour of restricting social media use for under 16s.

56.71% said they supported the principle of a ban on under-16s using social media.

28.8% opposed the idea of a ban.

14.48% said they were undecided on a ban, indicating ongoing debate within the technology sector.

Participants who supported a ban most frequently cited concerns about the impact of social media on young people’s mental health, along with issues related to child and adolescent development, addictive platform and content design, child safety and protection, and cyberbullying and online abuse. These responses indicate strong concern that current social media environments may expose young people to harmful content, unhealthy engagement patterns, and online abuse during critical stages of development.

Among respondents not in favour of a ban, the most common themes related to regulatory and implementation challenges and the difficulty of effective age verification, including the likelihood that young people would circumvent restrictions. This group also highlighted the importance of digital literacy and online safety education, parental control and supervision, and privacy and data security concerns, suggesting a preference for solutions that focus on education, parental involvement, and improved regulation rather than outright access restrictions.

2. There are technical challenges to implementing restrictions on social media

Respondents were asked about the technical challenges of delivering and enforcing a ban.

Only 4.72% said they were extremely confident this could be done effectively, with 10.58% very confident and 27.58% somewhat confident.

By contrast, a majority expressed lower confidence, with 30.02% saying they were ‘not so confident’ and 27.1% ‘not at all confident’ that a ban could be delivered effectively from a technology perspective.

3. Digital literacy education is the long-term solution to helping children navigate the digital world

The leading themes that tech professionals recommended government focus on when considering the implementation of policies to keep children safe online are (in order):

Prioritising young people’s digital literacy education (for example, on disinformation)
Addressing challenges with enforcement of content moderation
Supporting parents to monitor and understand social media platforms
Solving challenges with effective age verification and ease of circumvention (VPNs are an obvious example)
Creating effective routes to enforce penalties on social media platforms for non-compliance

Next steps

BCS will work with its membership community to respond in detail to the online world consultation which closes at end of May.

For you

Be part of something bigger, join BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

We continue to speak regularly with key government departments such as DSIT and DfE to ensure the voices and expertise of our members are available while critical policies are formed around areas like social media.

As with any implementation of high-stakes technology, including AI and critical national infrastructure, BCS’ key recommendation is always that these systems should be delivered by ethical, accountable, and registered professionals.

The government committed to ensuring that children are taught about issues like disinformation and the challenges and opportunities of AI, in its response to the Curriculum and Assessment review,

We are proud at members of BCS’ education team have been selected by DfE to shape the new Computing Curriculum in England, where these themes will be part of a broader focus on digital literacy.

Appendix

Detailed thematic analysis

For participants who answered 'Yes' to Q1 (supporting a ban on under-16s accessing social media), the top 5 most cited themes from Q2 (their reasons) are:

Mental Health Harm (113 responses)
Child and Adolescent Development (95 responses)
Addictive Platform and Content Design (93 responses)
Child Safety and Protection (83 responses)
Cyberbullying and Online Abuse (82 responses)

These themes highlight that concerns about mental health, developmental impacts, addictive design, safety, and cyberbullying are the most common reasons cited by those in favour of a ban.

For participants who answered 'No' to Q1 (opposing a ban on under-16s accessing social media), the top 5 most cited themes from Q2 (their reasons) are:

Regulatory and Implementation Challenges (76 responses)
Age Verification and Circumvention (68 responses)
Digital Literacy and Safety Education (63 responses)
Parental Control and Supervision (54 responses)
Privacy and Data Security Concerns (39 responses)

These themes show that those opposed to a ban are most concerned about the practical challenges of enforcing such a policy, the difficulties of verifying age, the importance of digital literacy, the role of parental supervision, and privacy issues.

For participants who answered 'Undecided' to Q1 (about supporting a ban on under-16s accessing social media), the top 5 most cited themes from Q2 (their reasons) are:

Regulatory and Implementation Challenges (34 responses)
Age Verification and Circumvention (29 responses)
Regulation and Policy Implementation (23 responses)
Evidence and Harm Assessment (21 responses)
Social Connection and Community Benefits (17 responses)

These themes indicate that undecided respondents are most concerned with the practicalities of enforcing a ban, verifying age, the effectiveness of policy, the need for more evidence, and the potential social benefits of social media.

Among participants who were 'Extremely confident' that a ban on social media access for children could be delivered effectively, their top government priorities for assuring children's safety on social media are:

Age-appropriate content access (16 responses)
Device and access controls (11 responses)
Parental monitoring and education (9 responses)
Child mental health and well-being (7 responses)
Age verification mechanisms (7 responses).

These themes reflect a strong focus on both technical controls and supportive measures for children and parents.

For participants who answered 'Very confident' to Q3 (regarding the effectiveness of delivering a ban on social media access for children), their top 5 most cited themes from Q4 (government’s main priority for assuring children’s safety on social media) are:

Digital Literacy Education (22 responses)
Content Moderation Enforcement (15 responses)
Parental Monitoring and Education (13 responses)
Age Verification Mechanisms (12 responses)
Age-Appropriate Content Access (10 responses)

These results show that 'Very confident' respondents prioritize education, content moderation, parental involvement, and technical controls as the main government priorities for children's safety online.

For participants who were 'Somewhat confident' that a ban on social media access for children could be delivered effectively, the top government priorities for assuring children's safety on social media are:

Age verification mechanisms (70 responses)
Content moderation enforcement (65 responses)
Age-appropriate content access (56 responses)
Digital literacy education (46 responses )
Parental monitoring and education (38 responses)

This group emphasizes a mix of technical solutions, educational initiatives, and parental involvement as key strategies for protecting children online.

For participants who answered 'Not so confident' to Q3 (regarding the effectiveness of delivering a ban on social media access for children), the top 5 most cited themes from Q4 (government’s main priority for assuring children’s safety on social media) are:

Content Moderation Enforcement (70 responses)
Digital Literacy Education (62 responses)
Parental Monitoring and Education (60 responses)
Penalties for Non-Compliance (54 responses)
Age Verification Mechanisms (44 responses)

This group places the greatest emphasis on improving content moderation, educating children about digital safety, increasing parental involvement, enforcing penalties for non-compliance, and implementing age verification.

For participants who answered 'Not at all confident' to Q3 (regarding the effectiveness of delivering a ban on social media access for children), the top 5 most cited themes from Q4 (government’s main priority for assuring children’s safety on social media) are:

Digital Literacy Education (61 responses)
Content Moderation Enforcement (56 responses)
Parental Monitoring and Education (53 responses)
Penalties for Non-Compliance (46 responses)
Age Verification Mechanisms (41 responses)

This group emphasizes the importance of education, content moderation, parental involvement, and enforcement measures as key government priorities for protecting children online.