Featured Image Credit: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
A major family vlogging channel with 2.95 million subscribers has made a subtle dig towards the new UK social media ban announced earlier this week.
British prime minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday (June 15) that all children under the age of 16 would be prohibited from accessing social media under new legislation.
In a move Starmer described as giving kids ‘back their childhoods’, social media platforms will be required to verify the ages of its users to stop children from joining their sites.
It is not yet clear how this will impact family vloggers, who capitalize their family life for audiences on the likes of YouTube and TikTok, but one channel appears to have taken a subtle swipe at the new law.
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The Saccone Jolys, started by married couple Jonathan Joly and Anna Saccone, are known for documenting life with their four children, recently sharing their move to Marbella, Spain.
In a clip posted to YouTube Shorts yesterday (June 16), which was captioned ‘POV: when you find out the social media ban…’, two of the couple’s daughters can be seen on camera, with their 14-year-old asking another daughter what she is going to do now that the social media ban has been announced.
Lip syncing to the voice recording from a BBC interview, the Saconne Joly’s 12-year-old daughter replies with: “Stare at a wall.”
Despite this tongue-in-cheek video, it appears that the family have narrowly escaped the new regulations after their recent move out of the country.
News of the ban came from a press conference conducted by Starmer, who shared concerns for the mental health of children, stating that social media platforms make it ‘easier for bullies to harass and abuse’ kids online.
The likes of Instagram and Snapchat are expected to be included in this move due to the platforms’ social networking features, messaging functions and algorithm-driven content feeds.
TikTok is also likely to face the ban because of its video-sharing platform and social engagement tools.
Meanwhile Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, have been confirmed as facing restrictions for under 16s because users are able to communicate and share content on these platforms.
UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: “Tech companies have had countless opportunities to keep children safe, yet they have failed to act. That is why we are taking power away from the tech giants and putting it back in parents’ hands.
“My driving force has always been to give every child, from every background, the best possible start in life. That is what these regulations will deliver.”
