The U.K. just banned social media for kids under 16. The founder of ‘safe TikTok’ says the U.S. is next

When the UK government announced this week that it would ban children under 16 from Tik Tok, Instagram, You Tube, and X, Zak Ringelstein wasn’t surprised. He was ready. That’s because Ringelstein is the founder and CEO of fast-growing kids social media platform Zigazoo, which has spent six years building exactly what governments around the world are now demanding: a safe, age-verified digital space for children. “These are global dominoes,” he told Fortune. “The under-16 social media bans are spreading. And the next place will be the U.S.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the ban on June 15, calling social media “addictive by design” and declaring it was “contributing to children’s unhappiness.” Legislation goes to Parliament before Christmas, with the ban set to take effect in early 2027. The UK is following Australia, which enacted the world’s first national social media ban for minors late last year. France, Spain, and more than a dozen other countries have moved in the same direction. In the United States, at least 19 states have already passed laws restricting minors’ access to social media platforms — with eight states enacting outright bans or parental consent requirements. The dominoes, it appears, are falling. For Ringelstein, the moment is personal — and a long time coming Ringelstein, 39, launched Zigazoo in 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, after watching his young children come home and immediately start asking about their friends. Not their schoolwork. Their friends. The social instinct in kids, he realized, wasn’t going to be wished away. It was going to find an outlet — and every existing outlet was built for adults, monetized by engagement metrics that didn’t distinguish between a 30-year-old and a 12-year-old. “TikTok — really terrible for kids,” he told Fortune, adding that it’s the “same story” with Inst