Petition · past parliament

Introduce legislation to mandate social media companies verify user identity

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Introduce legislation that requires checks to be carried out by social media companies before allowing them to create social media accounts. Anyone aged over 16 has a National Insurance number and anyone under 16 should need a parental link up in order to verify their identity.
Freedom of expression continues to be used as a way in which racism and bullying continues on a daily basis. The verify identity check would continue to protect the persons anonymity, however, would allow authorities where required to trace the people who continue to break the law and take relevant action.

This way it avoids the original concerns the Government has in May 2021 but puts checks in place which would hopefully ensure freedom of expression does not turn in to racial abuse.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

12 Jul 2021 Petition opened for signatures
15 Jul 2021 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 15 Jul 2021

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.