Hundreds of UK teenagers to trial six-week social media curbs for major study

The trial will measure the effect of varying levels of social-media restriction on the participants’ lives. Photograph: Hispanolistic/Getty Images

Hundreds of UK teenagers will trial social media bans, digital curfews and time limits on apps under a government pilot, which will run alongside a consultation to decide whether the UK should ban access to social media for the under-16s.

During the test, led by the UK government, a proportion of 300 teens across all four nations of the UK will have their social apps disabled, “mimicking the enforcement of a social media ban at home”.