UK ministers lobby Trump to avert backlash against social media ban

A YouTube advertisement at Westminster underground station. Elon Musk, the owner of X, has already pushed back against the UK’s proposed social media restrictions. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Reuters View image in fullscreen A YouTube advertisement at Westminster underground station. Elon Musk, the owner of X, has already pushed back against the UK’s proposed social media restrictions. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Reuters UK ministers lobby Trump to avert backlash against social media ban No 10 is worried about retaliation from White House over restrictions to under-16s’ internet use Ministers have embarked on a concerted lobbying operation to prevent a backlash from the Trump administration to the under-16s social media ban announced by Keir Starmer. Officials said they have spent weeks trying to reassure senior Trump officials and the US president himself that the restrictions were not specifically aimed at US technology companies. The ban on platforms including X, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok, makes the UK the second country in the world to put sweeping limits on social media for children, after Australia did the same earlier this year. But British officials are aware of the risk of retaliation from Trump, whom Starmer will meet at the G7 summit in Evian this week and who has previously threatened the UK with “a big tariff” if the government does not drop its digital services tax. One person involved in the effort said ministers had taken a three-pronged approach to “engage the companies, pre-brief the administration and myth bust in the media”. They added: “This is about protecting children in Britain, not taking on US tech.” Asked about the possibility of sparking a fresh row with Washington, Starmer said: “I honestly think that across world leaders, there has always been a recognition that leaders have to take steps to protect children.” He added: “In relation to President Trump, I spoke to him on Saturday, I’ll see him again this afternoon and, yes, of course, we’ll discuss this and many other issues, and lots of other leaders are very interested in it.” By Monday evening the US president had not commented on the plans. However his ally Elon Musk, who owns X, posted : “This censorship law is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The real goal is to enable the UK government to track everyone.” The plans involve a wider set of restrictions than have been applied in Australia. As well as setting age limits for many social media platforms, the government will prevent under-16s from live-streaming themselves, will ban adults from making unsolicited contact with children on gaming sites and will ban children under 18 from engaging with “romantic” chatbots. Certain services have been specifically excluded, including YouTube Kids, Lego Play and Google Classroom. Ministers are working on further limits to be unveiled next month, including late-night social media curfews for 16- and 17-year-olds. Officials suggested on Monday that there could be