KUALA LUMPUR – Children under the age of 16 should be barred from social media, according to the reviewer of UK terrorism laws, who argued that platforms either cannot or will not regulate content effectively, and the country lacks the manpower to enforce compliance.
Jonathan Hall told the Press Association that the online world must be central to national security strategies, as children spend hours daily connected to digital platforms, Bernama and PA Media/dpa reported.
“Lonely and isolated children can find a huge sense of meaning by connecting with others online, but they are also more vulnerable to radicalisation,” Hall said.
His remarks coincide with findings from the Global Terrorism Index, which highlighted that multiplayer games and social media apps popular among gamers are increasingly exploited by extremists to target young people.
Steve Killelea, head of the Institute for Economics and Peace, which produces the Index, said: “One of the most alarming developments in youth radicalisation is the weaponisation of online gaming and gaming-adjacent communication platforms, including Discord, Twitch, Steam, and Roblox.
“Multiplayer gaming environments provide ideal digital infrastructure for isolation, alternative community building, and the normalisation of violence. Recruiters leveraged popular games, including Minecraft, Fortnite, and Call of Duty, to establish social bonds with isolated adolescents under the guise of shared recreational interests.
“This gamification extended to bespoke extremist modifications and custom servers where users role-played violent fantasies. Minors have even used simulation games to digitally rehearse real-world attacks, blurring the line between online play and physical terrorism.
“The creation of ‘scoreboards’ within extremist communities further incentivised violence, exploiting familiar reward mechanisms such as achievement, ranking, and peer recognition.”
Hall called for greater engagement between policymakers, law enforcement, and young people at risk of radicalisation to understand what drives them “down the rabbit hole”.
“If you look at the Ofcom surveys about how long children spend online, they’re spending six, seven, eight hours a day online,” he said. “We know there is a particular profile of person being pulled into radicalisation – often friendless, sometimes autistic, very unhappy, lonely individuals who then find a huge sense of meaning online.
“We need to get out of the habit of thinking about the online world as an extra. It needs to be front and centre of all national security decisions. We need to know more about these young people and what might stop them from going down the rabbit hole. We don’t really talk to them.”
The watchdog stressed that regulating online content is a near-impossible task, making a social media ban for under-16s the most viable option. Earlier this month, the House of Commons rejected a direct ban, but lawmakers approved giving the secretary of state powers to “restrict or ban children of certain ages from accessing social media services and chat bots” in future.
“My own personal view is that under-16s should be off social media,” Hall said. “Trying to regulate content is so difficult and imperfect. If you rely on platforms, they either won’t do it or can’t do it effectively because the volume is too high. Ofcom only has 50 people in their enforcement team, a tiny number to take action, and many platforms are based overseas and don’t care. Content moderation is just not going to deal with this, and the risks are so high.”
An Ofcom spokesperson added: “The Government is leading an important debate on this, which we’ll be supporting with our independent expert advice and insights from our research. In the meantime, we’re implementing and enforcing the Online Safety Act — and change is happening.”
The Global Terrorism Index, due to be published on Thursday, found that in 2025, minors accounted for 42 per cent of terror-related investigations in Europe and North America, a threefold increase since 2021. – March 18, 2026