Wire · regulatory
New social media curfews and crackdown on addictive features to better protect 16
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Fusion42 · 15 July 2026 · Fusion42 review
UK government mandates default overnight curfews (midnight-6am) and automatic disabling of addictive features (autoplay, infinite scroll) for 16-17 year-olds on social media platforms, with regulations to be laid before Parliament by end of 2026 and enforced spring 2027. Separate measures include mandatory breaks for under-18s on AI chatbots and potential bans on mental health chatbots deemed dangerous.
This Wire brief sits within Fusion42's coverage of Consumer Apps and Social & Community.
◆ ◆ The Wire takeaway
If you build social media or AI products for European markets, you now have eight months to ship mandatory curfews and feature kills for 16-17 year-olds as UK default settings—and this becomes the template for every other regulator watching. The move from opt-in to opt-out protection means your product roadmap just got a non-negotiable dependency on age verification and toggle architecture.
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1 source · 15 Jul 2026
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