Labour's proposed "social media curfew" for young people appears unworkable, according to new polling showing that nearly eight in ten teenagers say they would simply find ways to bypass any restrictions imposed on their online access. The finding undermines a flagship policy the government has been considering as part of efforts to curb children's exposure to harmful content and excessive screen time, raising doubts about whether such measures can be effectively enforced without robust age-verification technology.

The poll highlights the scale of the challenge facing ministers, with the vast majority of teenagers surveyed indicating they already know, or could easily find, methods to circumvent time-based restrictions on platforms such as using VPNs, alternative accounts or simply borrowing another device. Critics argue the figures expose a fundamental flaw in the policy's design, suggesting that without stricter identity checks or platform-level enforcement, any curfew would rely largely on voluntary compliance that young people have signalled they are unlikely to follow.