UK social media ban could cut lifeline for disabled children, campaigners warn

Lucy Edwards: ‘No one I was friends with [in person] understood my vision loss like my friends online.’ Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Disability activists have said banning under-16s from social media risks cutting off a “lifeline for friendship” for disabled children and could push them into social isolation by preventing them from making connections online.

Charities and high-profile figures in disability advocacy said they were concerned that a blanket ban on social media would disproportionately affect teenagers who may not be able to meet people easily in real life or find peers with similar conditions.