British children could face a daily two-hour cap on social media as part of a crackdown on "compulsive" phone use, the Technology Secretary has suggested.
It follows ministers previously refusing to rule out a blanket ban on social media use for all under 16s.
The plans would block children from accessing apps such as TikTok or Snapchat as soon as the time limit was reached, rather than sending them an optional reminder to log off.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said he was concerned about the amount of time young people spend on their phones each day and the volume of "unhealthy" content that they can access too easily.
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|British children will only be able to use social media for two hours
He told Sky News that the Government must intervene to help "take control" of young people's "online lives".
Between 2020 and 2022, there was a 52 per cent increase in children's screen time, with nearly 25 per cent showing addictive behaviour, according to a Government report.
It concluded that the rise in smartphone use among young people had directly weakened their working memory, attention span and language skills.
A 2024 Ofcom report also found that a shocking one quarter of three and four-year-olds in the UK had their own smartphone, while half of under-13s were signed up to a social media app.
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Earlier this year, senior police chiefs expressed concern over how easy it was for young people to access harmful online content, as research found that 79 per cent of children had encountered violent pornography before turning 18 years old.
Kyle is currently in the process of strengthening age verification checks for all pornography sites accessed in the UK.
He said he aims to take action by working closely with parents.
Kyle stated: "Parents don't feel they have the skills, the tools or the ability to really have a grip on the childhood experience online, how much time, what they're seeing, they don't feel that kids are protected from unhealthy activity or content when they are online.
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|Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said he was concerned about the amount of time young people spend on their phones
"We talk a lot about a healthy childhood offline. We need to do the same online."
The Government will reportedly monitor the progress of a complete ban on social media for children that is being introduced in Australia, coming into effect later this year.
Critics in the country have raised questions over data privacy and the accuracy of online ID verification systems.
When asked earlier this year about a similar ban being introduced in the UK, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the Times that "nothing can be off the table".
An announcement with further details is expected this autumn.