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The RFID chip and antenna loop inside a British biometric passport, with a ruler for scale (illustrative) — Photo: Mike1024, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Policy Watch|World

UK under-16 social media ban: Ofcom names four age checks, and most need photo ID

Asked by the government, Ofcom said on 29 October that four methods can reliably confirm a user is 16 or over: photo-ID matching, digital ID services, banking-based checks and facial age estimation. Photo ID is part of the process or likely to be the fallback, and Ofcom cites an estimate that about 150,000 16- and 17-year-olds have neither a passport nor a driving licence. Many adults may also be asked to prove their age. Regulations are due before the end of 2026 and the ban takes effect in 2027.

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Riverside House, Bankside, London, Ofcom’s headquarters — Photo: Jim Linwood, CC BY 2.0

Policy Watch|World

UK age checks: Ofcom has fined three porn sites for failing to verify ages and is now investigating Pornhub, TikTok and Meta

Ofcom’s 15 October Online Safety bulletin lists fines of £630,000 (fapello.com), £730,000 (Xgroovy.com) and £80,000 (First Time Videos) for failing to use ‘highly effective age assurance’, provisional decisions against four more providers, and open investigations into Pornhub’s owner Aylo, TikTok and, from October, Meta over Instagram’s ‘Instants’. Ofcom is also assessing what age checks would work for a planned under-16 social media ban.

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The Rolls Building, Royal Courts of Justice, London — Photo: Muhammad Karns, CC BY-SA 4.0

Accountability|European Union

Meta takes Ofcom’s Category 1 Instagram/WhatsApp labels to the Upper Tribunal

In mid-September 2026 Meta served an appeal against Ofcom’s Category 1 designation of Instagram and WhatsApp under the UK Online Safety Act — joining a wave of platform challenges Ofcom told Lords peers it faces in a “highly litigious environment.”

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