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UK political tilt toward social-media ban reframes debate over platform harms

By Patricia Figueiredo ( January 28, 2026, 17:32 GMT | Comment) -- The online safety debate in the UK is shifting from regulating platforms to proposals for banning under-16s from social media after lawmakers backed an amendment proposing a ban. But new data on harms linked to X’s Grok chatbot scandal has raised questions about whether such measures would be effective. Campaigners and researchers have argued that bans may not include risky platforms such as standalone AI chatbots.Political debate in the UK around online safety has been shifting in recent days from platform regulation design to social media bans. What started with concerns over how platforms police harmful content or functionalities, fueled by a global scandal involving X’s chatbot Grok, has given space to increasing support for wholesale restriction of access to social media entirely for under-16s....

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