The UK government is considering whether to add eBay and Vinted to the list of platforms that will be off-limits to children under 16 when the country’s social media ban takes effect in March, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said.
Asked whether ministers planned to bar under-16s from the two second-hand marketplaces, Nandy said: “We are looking seriously at doing so in order to keep children safe.”
The ban, announced in June, will prevent children from accessing 10 of the biggest social platforms, among them Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, from March next year. YouTube will also be covered, although YouTube Kids — a version of the video app built to be safe for children — will be exempt from the measures.
Messaging tools draw scrutiny
The possible addition of resale sites stems from concerns that private messaging functions on the platforms allow strangers to contact and groom children. Depop and Facebook Marketplace, which serve a similar reselling purpose, are also expected to be added to the roster of restricted sites.
For eBay, the move would depart from the company’s stated policy. The platform tells users on its website that all members must be over 18 because listings involve “entering into a contract.” eBay has been a major global player in online reselling for years, with businesses and individual sellers listing a wide range of goods.
Vinted is likewise aimed at adults, but its terms and conditions allow parents or guardians to create accounts for their children, which must be used under parental supervision. The site, where users mostly buy and sell unwanted clothes and other fashion items, has grown rapidly to reach 17 million UK users.
A Vinted spokesperson said direct messaging was “part of how the platform works,” but that the company had “zero tolerance for harmful or explicit content” and maintained moderation teams and tools to spot and remove “activity that breaks our rules.” “When we identify inappropriate behaviour, we take action, up to a permanent ban or reporting to the relevant authorities,” the spokesperson said.
An eBay spokesperson said the company was “focused on providing a trusted and safe marketplace experience for our millions of customers.” “While the details of the proposed legislation are not yet clear, we look forward to understanding more and continuing to work constructively with the government,” the spokesperson added.
Scope of the ban still being defined
A complete list of affected platforms has not been released. The government has said the rules will cover services “whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material.” That means platforms offering livestreaming, or features that create the potential for strangers to contact children, will also be restricted, including gaming sites.
It does not mean that Roblox, the biggest gaming site in the UK for children aged eight to 12, will be banned for under-16s. Certain features, such as its chat function, will be limited instead.
Matthew Sinclair, a senior director at the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which represents technology companies, argued that ministers should prevent the rules from suffering “scope creep.” He said a restriction on messaging for under-16s “would not stop at social media and would reach into the services families depend on to stay in touch,” and urged the government to “ensure any new restrictions are proportionate and effective.”
The UK’s ban follows a similar measure introduced in Australia last year. Many children there have found ways around it, but the UK has said it intends to take a tougher approach.
Attention has shifted in recent weeks to how the ban would be enforced. Last month, the communications regulator Ofcom set out recommendations on the most effective ways to identify which of the UK’s millions of social media users are over 16.
Rani Govender, head of online child safety at the NSPCC, said the “real question” going forward was how the government ensured age checks were effective. “But effective age checks are only part of the solution,” she added. “Tech companies must also be required to build child safety into every platform, device and AI tool, so children are protected from harmful and illegal content and only able to access age-appropriate services.”