Australia became the world's first country to ban social media for children under 16 in December 2025. The ban blocks children from using Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Twitch, and Kick. It notably doesn't include WhatsApp or YouTube Kids. The Australian government has said these social media companies must take steps to keep children off their services.
Unlike showing ID only for age-restricted items in a physical store (like alcohol), the bill would require age checks for everyone right when entering the app store, before any specific app or content is selected. Heightened risks from handling sensitive personal data online: Users would submit identifiers such as driver's licenses or facial scans to multiple parties that might store this information, unlike a quick, temporary check in the real world where the ID is simply viewed and returned.
Project Play, an NGO that has worked with 2,192 children hoping to cross the Channel from northern France to the UK to claim asylum in the last two years, has documented the impact of the hostile conditions in northern France due to regular teargassing, evictions and dinghy-slashing by the French police. During that period the NGO documented the deaths of 22 children trying to cross the Channel, including five last year.
"Second-hand smoke increases the risk of heart disease and lung cancer and we want to protect children and the sick from harm," he said. "Prevention is better than cure, so this government is taking pressure off the NHS and building a healthier Britain where everyone lives well for longer."
Since July last year, visitors to adult sites have had to verify that they are over 18 either by providing credit card details, uploading a picture of their ID, or using a selfie to estimate their age. While these rules are intended to make it harder for under-18s to see explicit material, Aylo claims they have 'diverted traffic to darker, unregulated corners of the internet'. As a result, it says it has 'not achieved its goal of protecting minors'.
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The government's review of taxi licensing in England follows Baroness Casey's report on grooming gangs, which identified taxis being used by offenders across the country and recommended tougher rules. At the moment, taxi drivers can buy a private hire vehicle licence from one council but work as far away as they like, taking advantage of lower standards, cheaper licences, and a lack of enforcement. This allows them to get around tough rules aimed at protecting children, such as Rotherham's gold standard licensing scheme, which includes CCTV in cabs.
she backed the UK regulator Ofcom to take any enforcement action it deems necessary. We cannot and will not allow the proliferation of these demeaning and degrading images, which are disproportionately aimed at women and girls, she said. Make no mistake, the UK will not tolerate the endless proliferation of disgusting and abusive material online. We must all come together to stamp it out.
Police sirens were still sounding and the pavement was stained with blood when I first met Abdullah Tanoli in August 2024. It was only a few hours after he had intervened in a knife attack on a young girl in central London. Abdullah stood nearby, calm and composed, having just disarmed a man who had stabbed an 11-year-old child multiple times. The attacker, 33-year-old Ioan Pintaru, was sentenced on Tuesday to indefinite detention in a high security mental hospital.
Deep cuts to foreign aid by United States President Donald Trump this year, coupled with reductions from other donor countries, have forced the closure of thousands of schools and youth centres in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, devastating critical child protection programmes. The consequences are dire: Girls forced into marriage, children as young as 10 pushed into hard labour, and some girls as young as 12 coerced into prostitution.
Armed groups have increased their recruitment of minors under 18. Should the government be responsible for their deaths? Bogota, Colombia Eight underage rebel recruits were killed last week after the Colombian government launched a fresh military offensive against a prominent armed group, according to President Gustavo Petro. The news comes amid soaring child recruitment by Colombia's armed groups in recent years and has ignited a debate over whether forced recruits can be protected on the battlefield.
