Ofcom has recommended four methods to verify that social media users in the UK are over 16 before a planned ban on under-16s accessing major platforms takes effect in March 2025.
The regulator proposed photo ID matching, banking-based checks, face age estimation technology, and digital ID services as "highly effective" approaches. Ofcom said these methods must preserve privacy and protect user data, but stopped short of prescribing a single mandatory approach. Social media companies will decide how to implement age verification themselves.
The ban will apply to ten of the UK's largest platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. Ofcom acknowledged that a "large number of accounts" would require adults to prove they are not underage, and that "the risk of circumvention cannot be entirely eliminated."
Some tech companies, including Meta, have called for age checks to occur at device level through app stores rather than on individual platforms. This would place responsibility with Apple and Google. Ofcom said this would not excuse social networks from conducting their own verification.
Ofcom CEO Dame Melanie Dawes said the regulator learned from introducing age checks for pornography sites that prescriptive mandates were ineffective. "It's on you to put in place what you think works for you," she told the BBC.
Child safety groups including the NSPCC and Molly Rose Foundation welcomed the guidance but raised concerns about enforcement. The Molly Rose Foundation noted Ofcom's "dire track record" in enforcing the Online Safety Act. Both organizations cited Australia's social media ban, where many under-16s found ways to bypass restrictions despite the law taking effect last year.
Ofcom's report will be reviewed by the government, with a final decision expected by year's end.