Hundreds of British teenagers are to take part in a government-backed experiment that will temporarily curb their access to social media, in a move that could shape some of the toughest child online safety rules in Europe.

The pilot programme will involve 300 young people aged 13 to 17, who will live under different levels of restriction for six weeks while researchers track the impact on their sleep, school performance and family relationships. The trial is being run for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as part of a wider consultation on how far the state should go in limiting children’s exposure to social media.

One group of participants will have social media apps disabled entirely on their phones. A second group will be blocked from accessing platforms overnight, while a third will face a strict one-hour daily cap on some of the most widely used apps among teenagers, including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. Their experiences will be compared with a control group of teens whose access remains unrestricted.

Ministers say the findings will provide rare, real-world evidence on how different forms of digital restraint affect young people’s wellbeing. Technology minister Liz Kendall said the government’s aim is to protect children without ignoring the role social media plays in modern social life, education and self-expression.

The trial runs alongside a public consultation asking parents, teachers, experts and tech firms whether the UK should follow Australia, which has moved to bar under-16s from mainstream social media platforms. France is also weighing similar measures, with lawmakers backing a ban for under-15s that still requires final approval.

In Britain, the debate has split politicians and specialists. Some MPs and campaigners, backed by public figures such as actor Hugh Grant, argue that only firm legal limits can counter the addictive design of platforms and the risks of bullying, self-harm content and sexual exploitation. Others warn that outright bans could be easily bypassed with fake ages or alternative devices, and say the priority should be forcing companies to redesign their products to be less harmful.

The government’s consultation is also examining stricter age checks and curbs on features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay, which critics say are engineered to keep children online for as long as possible. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has kept the option of a full ban on the table, pending the outcome of the consultation and the teen trial.