Keir Starmer has told social media firms that “things can’t go on like this” in a meeting with tech bosses in Downing Street as pressure mounts for tougher restrictions on the industry.

Ministers are considering imposing an under-16 age restriction on social media as well as other options to limit app use.

Here are the answers to some questions about what the government does next with social media regulation.

What did Starmer say to social media bosses?

Starmer held a meeting with senior figures at Meta, Google, TikTok, X and Snap on Thursday in which he told them something that tech firms have heard many times before: act with more urgency on internet safety for children.

“Things can’t go on like this, they must change because right now social media is putting our children at risk,” he said. “In a world in which children are protected, even if that means access is restricted, that is preferable to a world where harm is the price of participation.” He added that he expected “real-world changes” from social media companies to make their platforms safer for children.

What are tech companies doing?

The companies that attended did not comment, but social media firms have introduced a number of child safety measures in recent years, from Meta’s teen accounts for under-18 Instagram users to TikTok’s family pairing feature that allows parents to limit teens’ screen time.

They must also adhere to the UK’s Online Safety Act, which requires sites and apps used by children to suppress the spread of harmful content, such as violent, hateful or abusive material. There are other categories of content that need to be kept off children’s feeds altogether such as pornography and material related to self-harm, suicide and eating disorders.

Starmer has made clear, however, that he wants social media companies to show more initiative in making their platforms safer. An ongoing consultation on a potential under-16 ban indicates the sort of measures the government would like to see implemented.

What is the state of play with the government’s child online safety consultation?

The government is consulting on whether to introduce a formal minimum age for using social media of at least 16. Most apps require a minimum user age of 13, although enforcement of this is one of many areas of concern for ministers. There have been 47,000 responses to the consultation. It is also considering introducing age restrictions for addictive app features such as infinite scrolling, autoplaying of videos and push notifications. The consultation closes on 26 May and the government has promised “swift action” on its conclusions.

The House of Lords, the upper chamber of the UK parliament, is attempting to push through a ban by updating an education bill with an amendment that brings in a default ban, giving ministers 12 months to decide which apps should be subject to the age restriction. The amendment has been rejected by MPs twice, but the Conservative peer behind it, John Nash, has already said he will try to reinstate the clause.

Is Starmer minded to introduce a ban?

Starmer has been sceptical of the idea of an outright ban on social media use for under-16s. The prime minister is understood to have had concerns about whether such a move would push teenagers onto the dark web or would leave them ill-equipped to know how to use social media responsibly when they turn 16.

Australia’s social media ban has changed the political calculation, however. The implementation of that policy at the end of last year prompted many Labour MPs and some cabinet ministers to push for the UK to follow suit. In January, more than 60 Labour MPs wrote to the prime minister calling for a ban.

Starmer managed to quell a potential rebellion this year by announcing the consultation on measures to regulate the use of social media by teenagers. The prime minister has not said which of the options in the consultation he backs. But MPs expect him to come down on the side of an under-16 ban once the consultation is over, not least because so much of his own party now thinks that is the only way forward.

What do campaigners say?

The Molly Rose Foundation, an influential online safety charity, says an under-16 ban risks punishing children for tech companies’ failings. The foundation, founded by the family of the teenager Molly Russell, who took her own life after viewing harmful online content, says that instead social media firms should make their platforms safer and the government should strengthen the Online Safety Act.

However, Esther Ghey, the mother of the murdered British teenager Brianna Ghey, has called for the introduction of smartphones for under-16s with social media restrictions. The proposal has been backed by the children’s commissioner for England, Rachel de Souza.