The Impact of the Planned Social Media Bans for Under-16s on Separated Parents and Child Arrangement Order Applications
Parenting youngsters is hard work. It can be even harder when you are a separated or divorced parent, and your ex-partner doesn’t agree with your parental boundaries or just can’t be bothered to follow them.
Many parents report feeling unable to set social media limits, fearing that their children will vote with their feet and move to live with the parent who doesn’t set limits and lets them game and message as much as they want.
If you’re parenting a tween or teenager and navigating a child arrangement dispute, you’re likely already exhausted from trying to focus on your child’s needs whilst your ex focuses on what your child wants rather than needs.
This blog from our family lawyers helps you understand how the planned UK social media ban will affect separated parents, how it will influence child arrangement order applications, and what you can do right now to protect your child.
Under 16s Social Media Ban
The results of a government consultation revealed 9 in 10 parents back a social media ban for under16s. Around 66% of youngsters thought some social media platforms should not be accessible to under-16s.
If you are a separated parent, you need to understand how the ban will work and its timeline so you can co-parent effectively. If your co-parent ignores the ban, you need to know your options.
The government says the social media changes should be implemented by Spring 2027 and will include:
- Under-16s being banned from platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and X
- Under-16s restricted from using some other online services
- Age checks on social media platforms
The government doesn’t intend to stop under-16s from using messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal, or from using laptops and mobiles for online learning and to access educational content.
Importantly, if you are a separated parent or grandparent who relies on social media to maintain contact with your child or grandchild, nothing should change.
Under 16s Using Parents’ Accounts and Virtual Private Networks
If you are a parent who supports the social media ban for under-16s, you may be wondering how it will work in real life. You may anticipate that your child will either use your ex-partner’s social media accounts to go online or use a Virtual Private Network to get around the ban.
The government is researching how under-16s are using VPNs and the risks involved. However, we can’t see how the government will cater for parents allowing their kids to use their accounts to access banned social media. Some parents may be tempted to do this to get their kids on their side after a separation. Other parents may not have the time or headspace after a tricky separation to police a social media ban on a child going through the turmoil of a separation or divorce or the loss of their family home.
Under 16s Social Media Usage and Parental Disputes
If you are switched onto the dangers of under-16s experiencing too much social media content, what can you do about it if your ex either doesn’t care about bans or is prepared to use social media access as a lure to encourage your tween to say that they want to live with them?
Family lawyers recommend that separated and divorced parents start discussing the ban now so they both understand how the law is changing and how those changes will affect their child and them. Even if you both agree to follow the ban, your child may have different ideas about how to get around the ban, or they may struggle to fill their time and act out.
Talking about how the ban will affect your child is a good starting point. Recording how you will both comply with the ban is the best option. If you don’t have a parenting plan, then now may be a good time to negotiate one with your ex.
If you find it difficult to talk to your ex-partner, then family mediation may be the best way forward. A family mediator may help you both focus on the ban and its impact on your children. Expect some tricky conversations, especially if you have a blended household with a range of children, including over-18s home from university or stepchildren who won’t be complying with the ban.
Social Media Usage and Welfare Considerations
Currently, many parents are told that when children spend time with their other parent, they can’t police what the other parent does with their child. That may mean their tween eats too much pizza and ice cream or spends too much time watching TV, but how will the social media ban affect court decision making?
When the court is asked to make a child arrangement order application, a specific issue order application or a prohibited steps order application, the court assesses what order is in the child’s best interests. With tweens and teenagers, it isn’t as simple as asking what order the child wants the court to make and the court blindly following their wishes.
Under Section 1 of the Children Act 1989, judges must assess what orders are in a child’s best interests using the welfare checklist.
The welfare checklist includes:
- The wishes and feelings of the child (considered in light of their age and understanding)
- The child’s physical, emotional and educational needs
- The likely effect on the child of any change in circumstances
- The child’s age, sex, background and any other characteristics which the court considers relevant
- Any harm which the child has suffered or is at risk of suffering
- How well each parent can meet the child’s needs
- The range of powers and court orders available to the court
The judge has to assess all the factors on the checklist; no single factor is all important and trumps everything else.
Online Risk and Welfare Considerations
With the government research into the dangers of social media for under-16s, it’s appropriate to highlight your digital concerns if they play a part in a parental dispute. You may think that your child is becoming increasingly isolated, morose, and detached from family life in ways more extreme than those of normal, healthy teenage years.
A court may view your online concerns as relevant to:
- Harm suffered by your child or risks of future harm
- Your ex-partner’s ability to meet your child’s emotional or educational needs
- The impact of a change in circumstances on your child
The risk of harm could be psychological, such as being bombarded with online information on self-harm or being exposed to online cyberbullying from classmates. The risk could even be physical. For example, if the other parent has no interest or ability in policing unwanted contact from online strangers who pose a physical risk or sexual threat to your child, if digital contact leads to a meet-up.
With the UK government announcement that by Spring 2027, under-16s will be prohibited from using social media platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X, it’s important to explain to the court how different parenting styles are influencing your tweens’ stated contact wishes or how a diet of late night unfiltered screen time will affect their education and emotional development.
Balancing the Welfare Checklist
If you are a parent asking a judge to make a child arrangement order or specific issue order, it’s vital to talk to your family law solicitor about your child so they can frame their welfare checklist arguments around the specific needs of your child.
For example:
- Your child may be particularly vulnerable to the malign influences of too much social media because of their special educational needs
- You may have real fears that if exposed to too much social media, your child may end up with an eating disorder or be exposed to misogynistic content that will influence their future adult relationships
- You know your child has accessed self-harm material and you fear that continued access could have devastating consequences
Family lawyers and judges need to listen to parents. You know your child best and are best positioned to explain why your preferred court order is in your children’s best interests.
In practice, this means that you need to give a picture of what your child is like. Your family lawyer and the judge need to know if your child is bubbly or quiet, sporty or more comfortable with online gaming, and how different parenting regimes and parenting standards affect your child. Some kids move seamlessly between two parental households with no worries. Other kids can’t settle, with mood issues, disrupted sleep, and poor attention in school.
When you are fighting for the Children Act order you want, whether it is an order that your child lives with you, a relocation or holiday order, or a prohibited steps order, it’s essential to frame your case around why the order you want is in your child’s best interests. That means less emphasis on your rights and wants and more explanation about why the order you are seeking is best for your child.
Your wants and your child’s needs may be interlinked. For example, you may want to relocate to Spain from the UK because you have a fantastic job offer, but you may genuinely think your child will be better off living in Spain because of the outdoor lifestyle with less chance of your child spending hours alone in their bedroom on social media or gaming.
Court Powers
In addition to making child arrangement orders, the court can determine specific parenting issues and impose Section 11(7) conditions or make specific issue orders. In the future, more parents may ask their family lawyers to address their child’s social media access and online presence when there is parental disagreement over a child’s smartphone access or online activity.
Section 11 (7) of the Children Act 1989 allows the court to impose conditions which must be complied with by any person who is named in a Section 8 order as a person with whom the child concerned is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact.
Consult Evolve Family Law
Our family lawyers can help you if you are in the throes of a separation or divorce and worried about whether it’ll be 50/50 shared care or how you’ll cope with caring for a tween back from their blended family overloaded on sugar, late nights and unlimited social media access.
With years of helping parents navigate parenting plans and securing child arrangement orders, our family law solicitors will give you the incisive, clear legal advice you need to help protect your child.
