LONDON, U.K.: Britain is weighing limits more stringent on children's access to social media, including the possibility of an outright ban similar to one recently adopted in Australia, as the government steps up efforts to address online safety and mental health risks.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that his government was prepared to take firm action to protect young people online, warning that children risk being drawn into "a world of endless scrolling, anxiety and comparison".

His comments came a day after the Labour government said it would examine whether social media features such as infinite scrolling should be restricted and whether current age limits for accessing platforms remain appropriate.

The government said it would review international evidence on proposals that include a potential social media ban for children, assessing whether such a move would be effective and how it could be implemented if adopted.

"This is a hugely complex issue, so it's important it's properly considered," Starmer said in a post on Substack.

Ministers will travel to Australia, which last month became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, to study how the policy works in practice, the government said this week.

British officials did not specify an age threshold for any potential ban, saying they were exploring a restriction "for children under a certain age". Other measures under consideration include stronger age-verification checks and a review of whether the current digital age of consent is set too low.

The proposals reflect growing concern among governments and regulators worldwide about children's exposure to social media, the effects of excessive screen time, and the impact on development and mental health.

Those concerns have been heightened by the rapid spread of AI-generated content online. Earlier this month, public outrage followed reports that Grok, developed by Elon Musk, had generated non-consensual sexual images, including of minors.

The British government has already announced plans to ban artificial intelligence "nudification" tools outright. It is also working to prevent children from taking, sharing, or viewing nude images on their devices, according to Monday's statement.

Officials said they are considering removing or limiting social media features that may encourage addictive or compulsive use.

Britain's Online Safety Act, one of the world's strictest digital safety regimes, has already increased the share of children encountering age checks online to 47 percent from 30 percent, the government said. Visits to pornography websites have fallen by about a third since the law came into force.

"These laws were never meant to be the end point, and we know parents still have serious concerns," said Liz Kendall.

Starmer said childhood should not involve judgment from strangers or pressure to perform for social media approval.

"For too many today, it means being pulled into a world of endless scrolling, anxiety, and comparison," he said.

"We will work with experts to identify the most effective measures we can take to do more," Starmer added, stressing that "no option is off the table".

The government also said it would issue evidence-based guidance on screen time for parents of children aged five to 16, with separate advice for under-fives due to be published in April.