The Conservatives are backing a ban on social media for under-16s in an attempt to prevent addictive platforms fuelling anxiety and distraction among teenagers.

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said she did not like the word ban but she wanted to see an age limit of 16 in the same way that Australia had introduced restrictions on social media for children.

Her new policy will add to growing pressure on the government to act, with Wes Streeting, the health secretary, having recently suggested he would like to see more action to protect children online.

The prime minister, Keir Starmer, has said previously he was personally against such a move and Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, has also stated her opposition but the government is closely monitoring the reaction to Australia’s ban and considering its policy options. In Australia, under-16s are now prevented from setting up accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch.

Badenoch told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “What we are seeing is a lot of children spending so many hours a day on platforms that are profiting from their anxiety, from their distraction, and they are actually designed to be addictive.

“So what we want to see is common sense, protection for children and freedom for adults. We want to give parents some understanding that the government understands what they’re going through. So we want to bring in age limits.

“The internet is a wild west, social media in particular. We don’t think children should be on there, and we want the industry to set the direction of travel so that we can start working with them now in order to get the proper solutions in place.”

The Conservatives said that, if elected, they would ban smartphones in schools and ask social media companies including TikTok and Snapchat to use age verification tools to prevent under-16s from accessing their platforms. The scope of the policy would be kept under review, the party said.

On Sunday, one of the UK’s biggest teaching unions, NASUWT, called on the government to ban social media for under-16s over concerns about mental health and concentration. It wants legislation to be tightened so big tech firms would face penalties for allowing children to access their platforms.