Ofcom’s proposed system for keeping under-16s off social media is intended to create a firm age threshold. Its practical effect could extend to older teenagers without documents, and to a large number of adults asked to establish their age.
In June, the UK government ruled that under-16s should be barred from social media platforms, with enforcement due to begin during the first half of 2027.
Ofcom has set out four routes for checking that users are not children, which it calls highly effective age assurance. The methods are photo-ID matching, banking checks, digital ID services and facial age estimation.
Its own estimates point to a coverage problem. Around 150,000 16-17-year-olds have neither photo ID nor other required documentation, while around 94 percent of people in that age group have some form of photo ID and an estimated 90 percent have a bank account.
Facial age estimation is meant to offer an alternative route, yet Ofcom says it has a margin of error of a few years. The regulator has said official ID would probably still be needed as a “backstop” where other checks, including facial estimates, produce an uncertain result.
The same issue reaches beyond teenagers. Ofcom said it had no firm estimate for the number of adults who would have to prove they were not under age, while accepting that it would be a “large number of accounts”.
The system will also have to contend with evasion. Ofcom has acknowledged that “the risk of circumvention cannot be entirely eliminated”. Some children have reported getting past age checks with a drawn-on moustache.
In May, nearly a year after the Online Safety Act’s age-verification requirements took effect, researchers found that existing checks were largely ineffective at keeping under-18s away from adult content online. Recent research from EE suggests that 42% of 11-15 year-olds plan to try to get around whatever restrictions are introduced.
Australia introduced an under-16 social media ban in December 2025. In March, the country’s eSafety commissioner said a “substantial proportion” of under-16s had broken the ban since it was imposed. A survey of 900 Australian parents found that 31% said their children still had one or more social media accounts after the ban, compared with 49% before the laws.
Ofcom will closely monitor attempts to evade the rules for the first 12 months after enforcement begins. Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, called the proposal “a national ID system by the back door”.
The government is expected to set out its first regulations for the under-16 social media ban by the end of the year.
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