As Twitchy reported in a VIP post last week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the Labour government was banning social media access for those under 16 … coincidentally, just as Reform Britain's Rupert Lowe was releasing his 180-page Rape Gang Inquiry Report, with more than 70 pages of testimony from victims, mostly of grooming rings run by Pakistani immigrants.
Complete silence from the BBC on our rape gang inquiry report.
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) June 18, 2026
A truly despicable organisation.
How exactly the government is going to enforce this ban remains in question. Will adults have to provide credit card numbers and submit to facial recognition to sign up for an X account? (Bluesky is reportedly not included in the ban.) Or will age verification be required at the device level, requiring age verification to activate a phone or a tablet?
🚨 NEW: The UK's social media ban for under-16s is set to be enforced at device-level, with Apple and Google forced to verify the age of all users
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) June 15, 2026
Age checks would happen at the point that a user sets up their new phone rather than when they create an account with a social media company
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) June 15, 2026
Government officials prefer it as it removes the need to repeat checks
Story: https://t.co/YKgfMjSDvN
This all sounds a lot like the mandatory digital ID that the U.K. government was pushing last year.
French President Emmanuel Macron followed with a similar ban, and he welcomed the United Arab Emirates to the club.
UAE sets minimum social media age at 15, mandates age checks https://t.co/RnjnoPdkCI https://t.co/RnjnoPdkCI
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 18, 2026
✅ Thanks for joining the movement. https://t.co/J2UNzD1GMv
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 18, 2026
Movement? This is evil globalism in plain sight. You all need removing from power.
— Hull Patriot 🫡 (@hull_restore) June 18, 2026
You fucking facists just want to track adults.
— Tater (@taternuggets) June 18, 2026
The totalitarian movement?
— Cassis (@cassisnouveau) June 18, 2026
Can’t see it catching on.
Calling censorship and digital ID a “movement” again 😂
— Wild Rusty Barstow (@RustyBarstow) June 18, 2026
This is just a way to soft launch digital ID
— King Dipper.HL👑 (@TankAdams6o) June 18, 2026
“Thanks for joining the movement” and the movement is surveillance state
— cozybear (@dlwiest) June 18, 2026
Girl this is NOT the flex you think
— Lilly-Jo Cullen (@Lilly_jo_Cullen) June 18, 2026
Ah yes, the child safety movement - because nothing screams protecting kids like mandatory digital ID checks to browse the internet.
— FIL (@filhetu) June 18, 2026
UAE, France, EU (Denmark, Greece, Italy & Spain), Norway
➜ all onboard for the real prize: turning every login into a trackable print.
Classic.
What movement is that? Does it have a name? A constitution?
— John Glendyne (@JGlendyne22356) June 18, 2026
Ah yes, the UAE. A country we should all be inspired to mimic.
— Mike (@mikeyyygk) June 18, 2026
Not a single person has voted for your movement, not a single one.
— EveryDay Jay (@EverydayJay1026) June 18, 2026
What have you got on these people to make them join your “movement”?
— Chris Sumner (@sumsECFC) June 18, 2026
Which no one asked for by the way.
Coming next in "the movement": banning VPNs.
🚨NEWS: Keir Starmer is expected to ban VPN’s in an announcement next month says a Government spokesperson
— Basil the Great (@BasilTheGreat) June 17, 2026
[@BBCNews ]
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