Britain plans overnight social media curfew for 16- and 17-year-olds
The British government wants to introduce a default overnight curfew (midnight to 6 a.m.) on social media for 16- and 17-year-olds and switch off addictive features such as autoplay. The measure supplements the ban for under-16s announced in June.
On the content the sources agree: a default overnight block on certain apps for older teenagers, plus the switching off of "addictive" features such as autoplay and endless scrolling. In the assessment the papers are close but set accents. The left-liberal Guardian and Le Monde relay the government line: the aim is to protect "the next generation" from online harms. The BBC gives space to critics who dismiss the rules as "piecemeal," not least because teenagers can opt out. The Financial Times stresses the technical side: addiction-fostering design elements are to be switched off by law. The regulatory push is a fact; what is contested is whether a curfew that can be switched off is effective youth protection or symbolic half-heartedness, and how far the state may intervene in media use.