On 29 October 2026 Ofcom, the UK’s online safety regulator, published a rapid assessment of how social media platforms could reliably confirm that a user is 16 or over. The UK government announced a social media ban for under-16s in June. The Secretary of State asked for the assessment before Parliament considers the detailed rules.

The four methods Ofcom says can be “highly effective” at 16

  • Photo-ID matching: details and the photo on a passport or driving licence are checked against a live image of the user. Ofcom cites an estimate that 94% of people aged 16 and over have one or the other, and that about 150,000 16- and 17-year-olds have neither.
  • Digital ID services: users verify once with photo ID, then reuse the digital ID.
  • Banking-based checks: with consent, the platform gets the age a bank holds on record. Ofcom cites evidence that about 90% of 16- to 17-year-olds have a bank account.
  • Facial age estimation: some tools are off by “a few years” at 16, so Ofcom says platforms should use a “challenge age” with ID as a second check, like “Challenge 25” for alcohol.

Ofcom’s guidance already lists seven methods that work at 18. Fewer work at 16 because some options are only available to people aged 18 or over. Age inference from online behaviour “cannot act as an age gate”, since the user is already on the platform, though it can help catch under-16s who got through.

“Given photo ID is either required as part of our recommended methods – or likely to be part of a second check – … those 16-17 year-olds that do not yet have a photo ID would likely need to take steps to obtain one.” — Ofcom, 29 October 2026

Adults are in scope too

Ofcom says some adults with existing accounts won’t need a check if the platform already holds reliable age information, but “many adults are still likely to be asked by sites and apps to prove their age.” It says the checks “can be delivered in a way that protects users’ privacy and complies with data protection law” and that it is working with the Information Commissioner.

Circumvention and app stores

Ofcom says circumvention “cannot be entirely eliminated” and will publish research on it within 12 months of the ban taking effect. In a separate report it found that all the app stores it analysed rely on children self-declaring their age. App stores are not regulated under the Online Safety Act, and Ofcom leaves it to the government to decide whether to bring them in.

Citizen impact: If the rules follow this assessment, UK teenagers will need a passport, driving licence, PASS card, bank account or a face scan to stay on mainstream social media, and many adults will face checks too. That means handing ID or biometric data to platforms or their age-check vendors. Free PASS cards are available to 16- and 17-year-olds.

What happens next

The government says it will publish the first regulations for the ban before the end of 2026. Ofcom will consult on industry guidance once they are laid in Parliament and says it will be ready to enforce when the ban takes effect “next year”. No regulation has been laid yet, so nothing in this assessment is binding.

What this piece does not say

We do not give a start date for the ban, because none has been set. The 150,000 figure is an estimate from CitizenCard based on a non-representative survey of 8,459 students, as Ofcom’s own note says.

Bottom line

Ofcom’s blueprint for checking age at 16 rests on photo ID, digital ID, bank data or face scans. Regulations are due by year-end and the ban is expected in 2027.