LONDON, UK – Millions of social media users in the United Kingdom could be asked to prove their age under proposed restrictions on children’s access to platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, after media regulator Ofcom identified four methods it considers capable of reliably verifying whether users are at least 16.
The methods include photo identification checks, banking-based verification, digital identity services and facial age estimation technology, according to an assessment published on Thursday, October 29, 2026.
The recommendations are intended to guide the implementation of the UK government’s planned social media ban for under-16s, expected to take effect in spring 2027. The government is due to lay the first set of regulations before Parliament by the end of this year.
The proposals could affect adults as well as teenagers, although users whose accounts already contain reliable evidence of their age may not need additional checks.
Ofcom said the responsibility for implementing effective age verification would remain with social media companies, even if app stores and device manufacturers introduce additional safeguards.
Four Ways Social Media Platforms Could Check Users’ Ages
Ofcom identified four methods that it considers capable of meeting the proposed standard of highly effective age assurance at the 16-year threshold.
1. Photo ID matching
Users could submit a passport, driving licence or another accepted photographic identity document. The system would compare the document’s details and photograph with a live image of the person undergoing verification.
Ofcom estimates that 94pc of people aged 16 and above in the UK have a passport or driving licence. However, evidence cited in its assessment suggests approximately 150,000 people aged 16 and 17 have neither document.
2. Banking-based checks
A financial institution could confirm whether a customer meets the minimum age requirement using information already held in its records, with the customer’s consent.
Ofcom estimates that around 90pc of UK teenagers aged 16 and 17 have a bank account, potentially making this option accessible to many young users who lack a driving licence.
3. Digital identity services
Digital ID services would allow users to prove their age electronically. A person could verify their identity once and subsequently use the digital service to demonstrate their age without repeatedly submitting identity documents.
4. Facial age estimation
Technology would analyse facial features to estimate a user’s age without necessarily requiring a passport or driving licence for the initial check.
However, Ofcom acknowledged that some systems have a margin of error of several years around age 16. It recommended a precautionary approach in which people whose estimated age is close to the threshold undergo an additional verification check.
Privacy Concerns as Adults Face Possible Verification
The proposed system raises questions about how social media companies will verify users without unnecessarily collecting or exposing sensitive personal information.
Ofcom said age checks would involve processing personal data but maintained that the available methods could be implemented in ways that protect privacy and comply with data protection law.
The regulator said it would continue working with the Information Commission on the privacy implications.
The government has also indicated that many adults will not need to undergo fresh checks if their accounts already contain reliable evidence that they meet the age requirement. Others could be asked to verify their age through available methods.
The precise number of adults who might be required to prove their age has not been established.
For teenagers aged 16 and 17, access to acceptable identification could become a practical challenge. Ofcom acknowledged that some may need to obtain a suitable photographic identity document to use age-restricted services.
App Stores Could Face Greater Responsibility
The debate is also expanding beyond individual social media companies to the app stores and technology providers through which users access online services.
Ofcom published a separate report examining the role app stores could play in protecting children. Its research found that three-quarters of children who use the internet identified apps downloaded from an app store as their primary way of going online.
The regulator said the app stores it examined generally relied on children declaring their own ages, with additional checks used only in limited circumstances.
Greater age verification at app-store level could help prevent underage users from downloading restricted applications in the first place.
However, Ofcom stressed that introducing checks through app stores would not remove the responsibility of social media companies to meet their own legal obligations.
A layered system involving platforms, app stores, operating systems and devices could provide additional safeguards rather than relying on a single age-checking mechanism.
Ofcom Admits Children Could Still Bypass the Ban
Despite the proposed safeguards, the regulator acknowledged that no age-verification method can completely eliminate attempts to circumvent restrictions.
Some children could still find ways to access prohibited platforms, making enforcement a central challenge for the planned ban.
Ofcom said social media companies would need to take additional steps to identify suspected underage users, including enabling users to report accounts believed to belong to children below the permitted age.
Age-estimation systems could also help identify users who may have bypassed initial checks, although Ofcom said behavioural age inference alone could not serve as the main gateway because it requires a person to have already used the platform.
Chief Executive Dame Melanie Dawes said the regulator would be ready to take enforcement action against companies that failed to comply when the restrictions came into force.
She acknowledged that determined children would seek to evade the rules but said platforms could introduce measures to reduce that risk.
The regulator plans to monitor circumvention and publish research within 12 months of the ban taking effect.
UK Looks to Avoid Problems Seen in Australia
The UK government has said it intends to learn from Australia’s experience with age-based social media restrictions, where concerns have been raised about children continuing to access platforms despite the ban.
The UK plans to require highly effective age assurance, a standard Ofcom says is stronger than the “reasonable steps” approach applied in Australia.
Child-safety organisations have welcomed the focus on age verification but stressed that the rules must be properly enforced if they are to make a meaningful difference.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has called for technology companies to be held accountable for meeting age-checking standards.
The Molly Rose Foundation, meanwhile, has raised concerns about Ofcom’s enforcement record under the Online Safety Act, arguing that the ban should form part of a broader strategy to make online services safer for children.
BT has also urged families to prepare young people for the restrictions and discuss the risks of attempting to evade them.
Government Decision Expected Before End of 2026
Ofcom’s assessment is advisory and will inform the government and Parliament as they develop the detailed rules governing the ban.
The government intends to publish the first regulations before the end of 2026, with restrictions expected to take effect in spring 2027. Ofcom will then consult on detailed guidance for regulated services.
Under the planned framework, under-16s will lose access to certain social media services, while additional protections are intended for teenagers aged 16 and 17, including restrictions on some high-risk features.
The final implementation rules will determine how the age checks operate in practice and how responsibility is shared between platforms and other technology providers.
For now, Ofcom’s recommendations establish the likely direction of travel: stricter age verification, greater responsibility for technology companies and continued scrutiny of whether the measures can protect children without compromising users’ privacy.
