Social media age limits in the UK, the four apps.

What each platform actually says

The 13 minimum is consistent because it comes largely from data-protection rules about handling children's data, not from a law that bans under-13s outright. These are the figures in the platforms' own terms at the time of writing, and platforms do change them, so the official help page is worth a quick check if a precise figure matters. The detail behind each row:

WhatsApp. Minimum age 13 in the UK and EU (lowered from 16 in April 2024, a change Smartphone Free Childhood campaigned against). Owned by Meta. No age verification at sign-up; the child types in a date of birth. End-to-end encrypted by default.

TikTok. Minimum age 13. Owned by ByteDance. Age is self-declared at sign-up. A separate "Under 13" experience exists in some regions but is not on by default in the UK.

Instagram. Minimum age 13. Owned by Meta. Teen Accounts (introduced in 2024 for 13 to 17s) tighten the defaults, but the underlying minimum age is still 13. Full guide: Instagram age limit, explained for parents.

Snapchat. Minimum age 13. Owned by Snap Inc. Snap Map (location) and Snapstreaks are on by default at sign-up. Family Center offers parent visibility but requires both the parent and child to install Snapchat on their phones. Full guide: Is Snapchat safe for kids?

Facebook. Minimum age 13. Owned by Meta. Teen Accounts now apply on Facebook and Messenger too, and Messenger Kids is the separate under-13 option. Full guide: Facebook age limit for children.

YouTube. Minimum age 13 for a full account. Owned by Google. Under-13s are meant to use YouTube Kids, managed through Google Family Link.

Roblox. No minimum sign-up age, but chat, spending and the experience age-ratings are set through the parent PIN and the Family Centre. The real question is which experiences and chat you allow, not whether a child can join. Full guide: Is Roblox safe for kids?

Discord. Minimum age 13, self-declared. Owned by Discord Inc. A Family Centre gives parents visibility of who a child talks to, without reading the messages.

Does the Online Safety Act set a social media age limit?

The Act places duties on social media platforms operating in the UK to protect children, including age-appropriate access, content moderation, default settings for under-18s and clearer reporting routes. The children's safety duties came into force on 25 July 2025, and Ofcom has been explicit that self-declaration on its own does not count as a real age check. In March 2026 Ofcom wrote to the major platforms requiring them to enforce their own minimum-age policies with proper age assurance, and asked them to set out how, with a report on age assurance due by the end of July 2026. The Act does not raise the minimum age above the platform terms, but it does require platforms to take meaningful age-appropriate steps for any user under 18. The full parent explainer (what the children's safety duties mean, what Ofcom now requires of platforms, why the practical decision still sits with parents) is at /notes/online-safety-act-children-explained.

Could under-16s be restricted further?

Separately, the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, gave the government a new power to introduce age-based or feature-based restrictions for under-16s on social media. A power, not yet a rule: the regulations have not been made, and ministers have indicated they are aiming for the first of them by the end of 2026. So the legal direction is towards tighter restrictions for under-16s, but under-16s are not banned from social media today. The headline today stays consistent, 13 across the major platforms; the enforcement of it, and the question of under-16 restrictions, are the parts most likely to change over the coming year.

What age do experts say children should be on social media?

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt argues for a delay-until-16 norm for all four apps, with the strongest evidence for girls. The 2024 Ofcom Online Nation report documents the prevalence and patterns of use, without making age recommendations. The Royal Society for Public Health's 2017 "#StatusOfMind" report ranked Instagram and Snapchat as the most harmful to teenage mental health. A 2022 study in Nature Communications (Orben, Przybylski and colleagues) found windows of heightened sensitivity to social media, around ages 11 to 13 for girls and 14 to 15 for boys, measured against life satisfaction.

Ansa-Phone's position: the evidence is correlational, not proven causal, but the direction is consistent enough that delaying all four apps until at least 16 for girls (and 14 to 16 for boys) is the defensible call. The plain-English read of the research is at /the-risks.

Why delaying the smartphone is the simplest way to enforce a delay on social media

The four apps live on a smartphone. The Nokia 3210, the Nokia 235, the Nokia 2660 Flip and the Nokia 105 4G cannot run any of them. The Light Phone III cannot run any of them. The Pinwheel Plus and the refurbished iPhone SE can, but only inside the parental-control rails the parent chooses to allow. The single most effective home rule is: no smartphone yet, no social media yet. The conversation script for the kitchen-table version of that decision is at /switching-kit.

What to do if your child already has social media on their phone

Two routes. The hard reset: step back to a basic phone, sell or store the smartphone, and reset friend-network expectations. The full piece is at /notes/05-stepping-back-from-smartphone. The soft reset: keep the smartphone, set up Apple Screen Time properly, delete the four apps, and set Communication Limits to Contacts Only. Both work; the hard reset is harder in week one and easier from month two.

How to talk to your child about social media

Three moves that beat a lecture. First, start with what the apps say, not your rule: WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat all set 13, so the line is theirs. Second, explain why the apps are hard to put down without a telling-off: teams of adults are paid full-time to make sure nobody can stop scrolling, and grown-ups cannot stop either. Third, name what comes first instead, a simple phone that does calls, texts and a torch. The kitchen-table script for the conversation is at /switching-kit, and the plain-English read of the research is at /the-risks.