Growing up in the online world: a national consultation - GOV.UK

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Open consultation

Growing up in the online world: a national consultation

From:

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Published<br>2 March 2026<br>Last updated

20 May 2026<br>See all updates

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Summary

We are consulting on further measures to prepare children for the future in an age of rapid technological change. This includes potential age restrictions on social media and other services such as gaming sites and AI chatbots, restrictions on addictive design features and risky functionalities, and better support for parents and families.

This consultation closes at

11:59pm on 26 May 2026

Consultation description

Why we’re consulting

Technology is part of most children’s lives from an early age. It can help children learn, build friendships and develop creativity. But it also brings risks, and many parents, teachers and young people have told us the current situation is not working well enough.

Social media use among children and adolescents is almost universal.  The proportion of children with social media profiles has increased significantly in the last 5 years. We must ensure children can engage with the online world safely, and that parents and carers feel confident to support and empower their children online.

This consultation is the next step in the government’s work to ensure children’s experiences online are safe and enriching. We want to understand how technology impacts children’s wellbeing, and what more we can do to help families strike the right balance.

Do you remember what your childhood looked like?

National Consultation

Background

The Online Safety Act 2023 established one of the strongest systems in the world for protecting children from illegal and harmful content online. This consultation builds on that foundation to consider the broader impact of technology on children’s everyday lives.

Given the importance of the internet and digital services in today’s society, we need to consider whether additional measures could build on our existing approach and ensure the UK remains the safest place for children to be online.

What we’re consulting on

The consultation will consider how children use digital technology as well as measures including:

setting a minimum age for children to access social media - and what age would be right

restricting risky functionalities and design features that encourage excessive use, such as infinite scrolling and autoplay

whether the digital age of consent should be raised

how age verification and age assurance technologies can support effective implementation

whether the guidance on the use of mobile phones in schools should be put on a statutory footing

better support for parents, including clearer guidance and simpler parental controls

Who we want to hear from

We welcome responses from everyone, including children and young people, whose voices are central to this process. A dedicated version of this consultation has been published for children, and a separate version for parents and carers. We will also hear views through a series of national events over the next 3 months.

Ways to respond

There are 3 surveys to choose from.

Full consultation for anyone (civil society, industry and members of the public)

Survey for parents and carers of young people aged 21 and under

Survey for children and young people (aged 10 to 21)

Start

1. Full consultation for anyone

Including: civil society, industry and members of the public

Take the survey now

2. Survey for parents and carers of young people aged 21 and under

Take the survey now

3. Survey for children and young people (aged 10 to 21)

Take the survey now

What happens next

This consultation will close on the 26 May 2026. The government has committed to taking swift action on its findings. On 16 February 2026, the Prime Minister announced new legal powers to allow the government to act swiftly after the consultation response, without waiting for new primary legislation. We will publish our response in summer 2026.

Documents

Growing up in the online world: a national conversation

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-6278-9, E03557625 03/26, CP 1528

HTML

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Growing up in the online world: a national conversation (web-optimised PDF)

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-6278-9, E03557625 03/26, CP 1528

PDF, 830 KB, 76 pages

Order a...