United Kingdom, May 20 -- Leading online safety campaigners have called on the UK government to block under-16s from accessing social media platforms deemed unsafe rather than imposing a blanket Australia-style ban.

The NSPCC, Molly Rose Foundation and Smartphone Free Childhood have written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging ministers to make access to social platforms conditional on stricter safety standards.

The groups argue that apps offering "risky" features such as infinite scrolling, disappearing messages and push notifications should not be freely available to teenagers.

The organisations wrote: "We are asking you to act now to require tech platforms to meet strict safety standards to continue to offer their services to u...