What was claimed
Nationwide curfews (either 10pm or 11pm) are being introduced under a new law by the UK government which bans being out of your house at night. Breaking the curfews could lead to a fine or arrest.
Our verdict
False. No such curfew is being introduced.
Alarmist videos falsely claiming that a nationwide curfew is set to be introduced have been circulating widely on social media.
The videos, which have been shared on TikTok and Facebook, where they have racked up hundreds of thousands of views and over 3,500 shares, claim that under a “shocking” new law coming into force 1 November, “every citizen” will be banned from leaving their home from 11pm onwards unless they have “official permission”.
It claims that the consequences for breaking the curfew would be “massive fines or even arrest”.
Some similar videos on Facebook also claim that the curfew is being introduced from October, enforced from 10pm, and anyone breaking it will be subject to a £100 fine.
Join 72,953 people who trust us to check the facts
Sign up to get weekly updates on politics, immigration, health and more.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.
The videos use voiceovers which appear to resemble the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and King Charles II, which although we can’t say definitively, are extremely likely to have been made using AI tools. A clue is that Mr Starmer appears to be criticising his own policy, as well as the unnatural phrasing and cadence.
The use of well known voices and faces may be an attempt to increase the credibility of the videos.
But these claims are false, and no such curfew is being introduced. There is no evidence that any such policy has been put forward by the Labour government, and no credible reporting of any such proposal.
While it may be obvious to some that these claims are false, the high volume of shares plus multiple comments asking about specifics of the ‘policy’ indicate many have taken it at face value.
While the government has been considering online safety measures to curb the amount of time children spend on social media apps, including a possible digital curfew of 10pm, this has not been established in law and would not be a physical curfew.
Even during Covid-19 lockdowns, nationwide curfews were not imposed by the UK government. However, several countries, including the Netherlands, Spain and France, as well as Quebec in Canada and states in Germany, did introduce curfews at various points during the pandemic.
These videos are part of a spate of false and misleading content about incoming changes to personal freedoms being shared online.
Before sharing information like this that you see on social media, first consider whether it comes from a verifiable and trustworthy source. Our Full Fact toolkit can help you do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because these claims are completely false and no curfew is being introduced.
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.
Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.