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Written question asked by Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 19 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 June 2026 (named day). It was answered by Kanishka Narayan (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

YouTube: Children

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether age verification will be sought to watch content on YouTube without a registered account as part of the upcoming ban on social media for under 16s.

Answer

On 15 June, the government published a progress statement in response to the ‘Growing up in the Online World’ consultation. This set out that social media companies will be banned from providing their services to under 16s, we plan to follow the updated Australia definition which includes Youtube. We plan to lay regulations by the end of the year, which will set out our approach.

To enforce these age restrictions, services will need to use highly effective age assurance to determine who has access to services, to prevent risky or harmful services being offered to children. The Secretary of State has asked Ofcom to conduct a rapid assessment of what highly effective age assurance looks like for determining whether someone is over 16, and to publish this assessment by October.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
11559
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Children Protection Safety Social media YouTube
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk