Social media firms should have to prove they are keeping under-16s off their apps, with checks tough enough that simply typing in an older age will not work, Gower’s MP says.
Tonia Antoniazzi is one of 37 Labour MPs who have written to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy with five demands for the ban. It is due to take effect next spring.
She said: “I fully support protecting our under 16s from the harms of social media but without proper guard rails and safeguards we can’t be confident banning them will work as planned.”
One in four parents has helped a child dodge age checks, research suggests
Research by online safety organisation Internet Matters found 26% of parents had helped their children get round age checks or turned a blind eye to their social media use, the MPs say. They want the Government to explain to families why the ban matters.
Children are not convinced the checks work either. The same research found 46% of them believe age checks are easy to bypass.
Australia barred under-16s from the main apps in December 2025, and children there have been able to open new accounts simply by entering an older age, according to reports cited in the letter.
Without proper checks, the MPs warn, the ban “risks becoming a policy that looks decisive on paper but fails to deliver the intended protection for children”.
Typing in an older age should not get a child onto TikTok, MPs say
They want age checks that make it “genuinely difficult” for under-16s to set up or keep an account on apps such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. A child saying they are old enough should not be enough on its own, the letter says.
The burden of proving the rules are being followed should rest with the companies, “not with parents or children”, and Ofcom should have the powers and money to investigate failures and impose “meaningful penalties”.
Nor do the MPs want the checks to leave behind databases of people’s personal details. The data should be deleted once it is no longer needed, they say.
And they want the results published, showing how many underage accounts are caught and how many slip through, with the ban judged on whether children are less harmed rather than how many accounts are removed.
Ofcom has since named four methods it says can be highly effective at checking someone is over 16: photo ID matching, banking checks, facial age estimation and digital ID.
Monmouthshire, Merthyr and Blaenau Gwent MPs sign alongside Gower’s
The letter, dated 30 October, is led by Cardiff West MP Alex Barros-Curtis and Ilford South MP Jas Athwal. Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire), Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare) and Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney) also signed.
Ms Antoniazzi was among more than 60 Labour MPs who called for an under-16 ban before the Government announced one in June. In September she signed a separate letter asking for an “off switch” for social media algorithms.
In neighbouring Swansea West, Torsten Bell found eight in 10 constituents he surveyed backed an age limit.
Not everyone is convinced a ban is the answer. When it was announced, Prof David Ellis of the University of Bath said it was “based on worry, not evidence” and risked pushing teenagers to less safe corners of the internet.
Ms Antoniazzi said: “This isn’t a ban for its own sake. We need to build an online environment that genuinely protects children.”
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