Welsh Government urged to back social media ban for under 16s

Jules Millward

The Welsh Conservatives plan to bring forward a motion calling on the Welsh Labour Government to support calls to restrict social media for under 16s.

The Conservatives say that children are now spending record amounts of time online, exposed to violence, pornography and extremist content, with experts warning this is contributing to deteriorating mental health, poor sleep, isolation, bullying and knock-on effects for learning and behaviour.

Leader of the Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch, announced the next Conservative Government will introduce age restrictions on social media for those under 16 years of age to help parents keep children safe from the dangers of the online world.

Commenting ahead of a Senedd debate scheduled for next week, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, Natasha Asghar MS, said: “Social media is having a profoundly harmful impact on children’s mental health, behaviour and capacity to learn.

“We now see young people spending unprecedented amounts of time online, often exposed to violent, sexual and extremist content with inadequate safeguards and regulation.

“Other countries have begun to act. Australia introduced restrictions on social media use for under-16s in late 2025, and early indications suggest reduced screen time, lowered exposure to cyberbullying, gave children the chance to focus at school and created more opportunities for children to spend time offline with friends and family. Of course, the full effects will become clearer over time.”

The Welsh Conservatives say that, by restricting social media access for under-16s, “we can help restore focus in the classroom, improve behaviour and, most importantly, better safeguard vulnerable young people across Wales from the very real harms associated with social media”.

Ahead of last month’s parliamentary vote on whether Britain should restrict children’s access to social media, Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch said: “British children spend almost three hours a day online, with 70 per cent of them seeing videos of real-life violence.

“It’s become increasingly clear that violence, pornography and extremist content is leading to deteriorating mental health, poor sleep and isolation – with knock-on effects for learning and behaviour.

“That’s why, the Conservative Party became the first political party in Britain to back a ban.”

The motion which will be debated today reads – To propose that the Senedd calls on the UK Government to restrict access to social media for children under 16.