The Government Wants to Know What You Think About Growing Up Online
I want to talk about something that isn’t AI news, isn’t a product launch, and isn’t a hot take on the latest chatbot. It’s bigger than all of that. The UK Government has launched a national consultation called “Growing up in the online world," and it’s asking everyone in the country, including children and young people aged 10 and up, what they think about social media, screen time, AI chatbots, and the rules that should govern how all of it works.
This isn’t a petition. It isn’t a poll on Instagram. It’s a formal government consultation, and the responses will directly shape new laws. The Prime Minister has already announced new legal powers to act on whatever comes out of it, potentially within months rather than years. That makes this one of those rare moments where your opinion actually has a route into legislation.
The consultation closes on 26 May 2026. You’ve got just over two months.
What They’re Actually Asking
The consultation covers a lot of ground, but the headline questions are ones that most parents, teachers, and young people will already have opinions on.
Should there be a legal minimum age for social media? And if so, should it be 13, 14, 15, or 16?
Should features like infinite scrolling, autoplay, disappearing messages, and push notifications be restricted or removed for children?
Should the digital age of consent (currently 13 in the UK) be raised, so platforms would need parental permission to collect data from older teenagers?
Should there be mandatory overnight curfews or daily time limits on apps?
Should AI chatbots that mimic friendships or romantic relationships be age-restricted?
Should the current non-statutory guidance on banning phones in schools be made into law?
These are real questions being asked by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. They’re not hypothetical. And the answers people give will shape what happens next.
Why I Think Young People Need to Respond
Here’s the thing that struck me when I read through the full 76-page document (yes, I actually read it). The government has created a dedicated version of this consultation specifically for children and young people aged 10 to 21. That almost never happens. UK government consultations are usually dry, legalistic, and aimed squarely at industry bodies, lawyers, and policy wonks. The fact that they’ve built a separate, simplified survey for young people tells you they know the usual voices aren’t enough.
And they’re right. Because here’s what I see constantly in my work at Techosaurus: the people making decisions about technology are almost never the people most affected by it. Adults decide what children can access. Regulators who didn’t grow up with TikTok write rules about TikTok. Politicians who got their first smartphone at 40 set policy for kids who had one at 9.
That’s not a criticism of them. It’s a statement of fact. And this consultation is the government saying: we know we don’t have the full picture. Help us fill it in.
If you’re a young person reading this, or if you know one, please encourage them to take part. Their perspective matters more here than almost anyone else’s. You don’t have to answer every question. You don’t have to write essays. You just need to say what you think.
What I Found Interesting in the Detail
A few things jumped out at me from the full document.
The government is already running real-world pilots alongside this consultation. They’re testing overnight curfews, social media bans, and daily time limits with groups of 13 to 15-year-olds. They want to see what actually happens when these restrictions are in place, not just what people think will happen. That’s encouraging. Policy based on evidence rather than assumption.
They’re also looking hard at AI chatbots, and specifically at the risk of children forming emotional dependencies on them. The consultation references research showing that one in eight young chatbot users say they use AI because they have nobody else to talk to. That should make everyone pause. Not because the technology is bad, but because it’s filling a gap that shouldn’t be there in the first place.
On age assurance, the document is refreshingly honest about the challenges. Facial age estimation technology is less accurate for younger users. Kids share devices and accounts. VPN usage doubled in the UK when age checks became mandatory for certain sites. There’s no silver bullet here, and the government knows it.
The section on “persuasive design” is worth reading even if you skip everything else. The consultation lists the specific features that keep people scrolling: infinite scroll, autoplay, streaks, likes, push notifications, and recommendation algorithms. These aren’t bugs. They’re business models. And the question being asked is whether children should be exposed to them at all, or whether certain features should be switched off for users under a certain age.
How to Take Part
There are three separate surveys, and you pick the one that fits:
For anyone (individuals, businesses, charities, industry): Take the full consultation survey
For parents and carers of young people aged 21 and under: Take the parent/carer survey
For children and young people aged 10 to 21: Take the young person’s survey
You can also email a response directly to OSA_consultation@dsit.gov.uk if you’d prefer to write in your own format.
The full consultation document is available on GOV.UK.
The deadline is 11:59pm on 26 May 2026.
My View
I’ve said many times that the use of AI is a communication skill, not a technical one, and I think the same is true of the entire conversation about children and technology. This isn’t a technical problem. It’s a human one. It’s about what kind of childhood we think children deserve, and what responsibilities we’re prepared to place on the companies whose products shape those childhoods every day.
I don’t think a blanket ban on social media for under-16s is the right answer. I think it risks pushing kids to less regulated corners of the internet and creating a cliff edge where teenagers arrive on these platforms at 16 with zero preparation - remember all to well some of the nightmarish stuff I saw online way before any social media existed, and it left a lasting effect on me. But I also think the current situation, where 81% of 10 to 12-year-olds are already on social media despite minimum ages of 13, is clearly not working either.
What I’d like to see is a much smarter, more graduated approach. Age-appropriate versions of platforms. Features like infinite scroll and autoplay switched off by default for younger users. Proper investment in digital literacy in schools, not as an add-on but as a core skill. And above all, platforms being held to account not just for the content children see, but for the design choices that keep them scrolling long past the point where it’s doing them any good.
But that’s just my view. The whole point of this consultation is that the government wants yours.
Whether you’re a parent who’s worried about what your kids are seeing, a teacher who’s confiscating phones every day, a business owner who works with young people, or a 14-year-old who thinks the adults are getting it wrong, this is your moment to say so. Government consultations like this don’t come around often, and the ones that include a dedicated route for young people’s voices are rarer still.
Take ten minutes. Fill in the survey. Make your voice count.
If you’d like to talk about digital literacy, AI in education, or how technology is shaping the next generation, get in touch with Techosaurus. It’s what we do.
Scott Quilter | Co-Founder & Chief AI & Innovation Officer, Techosaurus LTD