--- title: "Ban news and parental controls updates" description: "News on the UK under-16 social media ban and parental controls, reported plainly: what's law, what's proposed, and what it means for your family." canonical: https://parentalcontrols.co.uk/news --- News # Latest news Mostly the ban, reported as it develops: what's law, what's proposed, and what it means for your family. Context lives on the [ban hub](/ban). 12 September 2026 ## [The Netherlands and Spain want one minimum age for social media across the EU](/news/eu-wide-minimum-age-push) A joint paper sent to Brussels on 11 September asks for an EU-wide law, and for regulators to judge whether a platform is safe for children, not just who may hold an account. 12 September 2026 ## [California has banned the algorithm for under-16s, not the account](/news/california-addictive-feed-ban) Newsom signed AB 1709 on 10 September. Children keep their profiles, but the recommended feed and autoplay have to come off. 11 September 2026 ## [Australia’s regulator has been given the document powers it said it needed](/news/australia-enforcement-bill-passes) Fines behind the under-16 ban doubled to A$109.2 million, and eSafety can now demand documents from app stores and age-check firms. 10 September 2026 ## [Platforms have until 30 September to switch on deepfake nude detection](/news/ofcom-intimate-image-enforcement) Ofcom has opened an enforcement programme with a date on it, and fines of up to 10% of global revenue behind it. 9 September 2026 ## [Australia would give every user over 16 an off switch for the algorithm](/news/australia-digital-duty-of-care) Draft duty-of-care laws treat the age ban as the first layer, and the feed choice is one thing the UK list does not have. 8 September 2026 ## [The government will legislate to make phones themselves block nude images for children](/news/device-level-child-protections) Apple and Google were given three months to volunteer. Ministers have read their answers and decided to write a law instead. 3 September 2026 ## [Meta’s US settlement gives parents the switch the UK gives teenagers](/news/meta-settlement-parent-lock) A midnight–6am block for under-18s that only a parent can lift: same platforms, same hours, opposite lock. 31 August 2026 ## [Ofcom tells platforms the ban does not put their current duties on hold](/news/ofcom-duties-still-apply) The rules protecting children now are unchanged by a ban that starts in 2027, and nine risky sites have just shut UK children out. 25 August 2026 ## [Australia’s regulator says it cannot prove a breach without the platforms’ own documents](/news/australia-regulator-document-powers) A Senate committee backed doubling the maximum fine to A$109.2 million. Children still holding accounts is not, by itself, evidence of anything. 24 August 2026 ## [New Zealand’s under-16 bill is built like the UK’s, not France’s](/news/new-zealand-under-16-bill) Platform duties, a 10% global revenue penalty and messaging apps out of scope: the design the UK picked, now copied. 17 August 2026 ## [France’s under-15 ban struck down two weeks before it was due to start](/news/france-court-blocks-under-15-ban) A blanket ban goes too far on freedom of expression, France’s Constitutional Council ruled, and the age checks had no privacy safeguards. 10 August 2026 ## [Nearly 85% of older teens say they will switch the overnight curfew off](/news/teen-curfew-opt-out-poll) A Censuswide poll of 1,000 teenagers puts a number on the government’s bet that defaults are sticky. 4 August 2026 ## [Three months into Australia’s ban, 81.5% of children were still using social media](/news/australia-ban-three-month-evaluation) The regulator surveyed the same 803 children before and after. Account ownership fell 10 points; use fell four. 22 July 2026 ## [Ofcom is investigating TikTok over the age checks the ban will rely on](/news/ofcom-tiktok-age-checks-investigation) The first formal test of whether a social media app can tell which of its users are children: the question the under-16 ban turns on. 16 July 2026 ## [Midnight to 6am: the voluntary social media curfew for older teens](/news/overnight-curfew-older-teens) Default overnight lockouts and autoplay switched off for 16- and 17-year-olds, but they can turn it all back on. 30 June 2026 ## [Six months into Australia’s ban, the lesson for UK parents is patience](/news/australia-ban-six-months) 4.7 million under-16 accounts removed, and new legislation because children are still getting through. 17 June 2026 ## [What the ban means for WhatsApp: probably nothing](/news/whatsapp-ban-scope) Messaging apps are out of scope. YouTube isn’t. Here’s the line the government drew. 15 June 2026 ## [Under-16 social media ban announced: what was actually said](/news/uk-under-16-ban-announced) Regulations before Christmas, enforcement from spring 2027, and fines of up to 10% of worldwide revenue.