Instagram and Facebook likes could be banned for young people, under new rules that attempt to protect children's safety on the internet.

英国出台保护未成年人网络安全新规定，今后未成年人将不能在Ins和脸书上点赞。

A new report from the British Information Commissioner's Office suggests that those features and other techniques that "nudge" users into engaging with the site should be switched off. The features encourage them to stay online longer and so could damage their well being, the major report suggests.

The report also suggests that such features should be banned entirely on websites that can't be sure whether or not their users are under-18. The suggested rules on likes are just one of a whole range of wide-ranging changes to the way social media sites could work.

The changes have already been attacked by critics who suggested they were patronizing and could end with everyone being treated as children.

The code, which begins its consultation process on Monday and is hailed as an international benchmark, suggests 16 standards that online services must meet.

These include that settings must be set to "high privacy" by default without a compelling reason and that only the minimum amount of personal data should be collected.

Nudge techniques should also not be used to encourage children to turn off privacy techniques or provide unnecessary personal data, the code says.