Measures to include restrictions on ‘safe’ social media apps, with some fearing banning some platforms and not others will lead to legal challenges

Teenagers under the age of 16 are to be banned from accessing “high-risk” social media apps while safer platforms will be subjected to restrictions, under a sweeping government crackdown.

Under-18s will also be banned from using romantic or sexual AI chatbots after a consultation on keeping children safe online.

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© Photograph: David Parry/PA

© Photograph: David Parry/PA

© Photograph: David Parry/PA

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) is pressing the messaging platform Kik over its dangers to users, accusing the platform of “turning a blind eye” or “allowing” the exploitation and abuse of minors. The letter, sent Friday and first shared with The Hill, comes a week after the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) released a new…

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) is pressing the messaging platform Kik over its dangers to users, accusing the platform of “turning a blind eye” or “allowing” the exploitation and abuse of minors. The letter, sent Friday and first shared with The Hill, comes a week after the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) released a new…

The DOJ is looking into 15,500 cases of "super sponsors" who are accused of lying to gain custody of kids.

The DOJ is looking into 15,500 cases of "super sponsors" who are accused of lying to gain custody of kids.

Desperate US parents pay up to $20,000 a session for a procedure scientists say could be bogus

Autistic children as young as 18 months old are being injected with human stem cells derived from umbilical cords in unapproved, unproven and potentially harmful “treatments” that scientists warn are proliferating across the US under the active encouragement of the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Clinics in Florida, Texas and other states are selling what they bill as “regenerative medicine” to families with autistic children who have intensive care needs. Parents who have taken their children through the process talked to the Guardian about their hopes and fears for a therapy that appears to be gaining ground in the US.

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© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images/Alamy

© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images/Alamy

© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images/Alamy