House of Lords votes to ban social media for Brits under 16

UK government is edging closer to following Australia in blocking under-16s from social media accounts after the House of Lords voted in favor of a ban.

On Wednesday evening, the Lords voted 261 to 150 in favor of amending the children's wellbeing and schools bill to require social media services to introduce age checks to block under-16s from access within a year. It will also require the chief medical officers to publish advice for parents on children's use of social media.

Unless members of parliament vote to remove the amendment from the bill when it returns to the House of Commons, it will become law.

The government moved its position on Tuesday when it launched a three-month consultation on keeping children safe online, which will consider banning under-16s from social media and raising the "digital age of consent," when children can give permission for their data to be ...