Government to Research Impact of Social Media on Children’s Mental Health

Social media apps are seen on a phone in New York City on March 13, 2024. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The government has launched a research project looking into the impact of social media on children’s mental health, the secretary of state for science, innovation, and technology has announced.

Peter Kyle said on Wednesday that the research “will help build the evidence base we need to keep children safe online.”

The Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) said in a statement that the first stage of the project will look into what methods will help the government understand the impact of smartphones and social media use on children.

DSIT cited 2019 commentary on a University College London study, where the chief medical officer said that there was insufficient evidence to form conclusions on the links between children’s use of screen-based technology and their psychological well-being.

The announcement comes amid calls from lawmakers and children’s rights advocates for stricter controls on minors accessing social media and using mobile phones.

Earlier this year, Labour MP and former teacher Josh MacAlister put forward a Private Members’ Bill to make all schools smartphone-free and which would also force companies to raise the age of gaining data consent without parental authority from 13 to 16.

Resilient to ‘Disinformation’

The technology secretary also exercised new powers under the Online Safety Act for the first time, setting Ofcom five strategic priorities.

DSIT said the first priority is to ensure social media platforms “embed safety by design” and are not “safe havens for illegal content and activity, including fraud, child sexual exploitation and abuse, and illegal disinformation.”

The department continued that Ofcom must push for more transparency and accountability from tech firms; foster innovation; and deliver an agile approach to innovation, “ensuring the framework is robust in monitoring and tackling emerging harms - such as AI generated content.”

The communications regulator will also be tasked with ensuring “an inclusive, informed and vibrant digital world which is resilient to potential harms, including disinformation.”

The technology secretary said: “Keeping children safe online is a priority for this government. That is why today I will be the first secretary of state to exercise the power to set out my strategic priorities.”

“While the Online Safety Act sets the foundation of creating better experiences online, we must keep pace with technology as it evolves to create a safer internet, especially for children,” he said.

Social Media Ban for Children

Ahead of Kyle’s announcements, the minister said that a social media ban for under-16s was “on the table,” if tech firms did not do enough to protect children from accessing inappropriate content.

Speaking to The Telegraph on Tuesday, the minster also said that while he wanted to see how the Online Safety Act worked, he was prepared to go further if social media companies do not “sort this problem out.”

Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle leaves 10 Downing Street following a Cabinet meeting in London, on Nov. 5, 2024. Lucy North/PA Wire

Australia is one country proposing a social media ban for under-16s and Kyle told the newspaper that he is talking to legislators in the country.

When asked if the UK could similarly increase the age threshold, the minister said: “When it comes to keeping young people safe, everything is on the table.

“Whenever this sort of thing happens, wherever in the world, I’m straight on the phone, to listen and learn, to request any of the information, evidence that they were using or have access to.”

Addictive Phones

Among its powers, the Online Safety Act sets safety duties on social media platforms which require them to protect users—particularly children—from “harmful content.”

However, children’s campaign group UsForThem, which runs the SafeScreens campaign calling for tobacco-style regulations for smartphones, has previously said that as well as the law creating issues around freedom of speech, it is not enough to combat screen addiction.

UsForThem Director Arabella Skinner told The Epoch Times earlier this year: “Focusing solely on harmful content, which the Online Safety Act in its current form will not solve, fails to address the broader issues of smartphone addiction. It will do nothing to protect our children against the myriad and increasing harms (physical, mental, and developmental) associated with smartphone usage.”

A briefing document by Health Professionals for Safer Screens (HPSS) says that excessive smartphone use in minors causes a range of mental health conditions and developmental delays, including increases in depression and anxiety.

The document says that the smartphone “extends a hold and influence over a person like no other device does.”

“Its growing ubiquity amongst younger and younger children, accompanied by the rapid acceleration of the product cycle and lack of any risk assessment of harms for its use by children, means that the issues we are seeing now in our teenagers will be significantly increased in our toddlers when they reach their teen years,” the HPSS warns.