A public consultation on whether to ban social media for under-16s is being launched on Monday, inviting young people and their parents and guardians to submit comments ahead of a government decision on the proposal. The debate over a minimum age for social media use has been fired up by Australia's decision last year to ban children from a range of platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the consultation would help establish how young people could "thrive in an age of rapid technological change". As well as gauging opinion on an outright ban, the government wants the public's views on less dramatic interventions. Those include: Alongside the consultation, pilots will be conducted testing some of the proposed interventions to provide "real-world evidence" of their effectiveness, the government said. "The path to a good life is a great childhood, one full of love, learning and play.…