Social media as bad for children as smoking, British doctors say
BATH, UNITED KINGDOM - FEBRUARY 09: In this photo illustration 12-year-boy looks at his phone on February 9, 2025 in Bath, England. Recently the Australian Senate passed a law to ban children under 16 from having social media accounts and social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram potentially being be fined for preventing children younger than 16 from having social media accounts. (Photo by Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
Social media ranks alongside smoking as a danger to children, senior British doctors said on Tuesday, as they urged lawmakers to tackle the harm that they say excessive screen time is causing to young people.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges detailed the impact of social media on children in a submission to the government’s consultation on protecting children online, which closes on Tuesday.
“It ranks alongside smoking and wearing seatbelts in cars as a unifying force for the medical profession.”
“There can be few issues which have united clinicians so resoundingly in recent years as the impact that unfettered exposure to tech and devices is currently having on children and young people’s health,” said the body, which represents the UK and Ireland’s 23 royal medical colleges and faculties.
More than half of 132 doctors surveyed saw at least one case of health harm that could be related to tech and devices every week, and over a third saw evidence of harm multiple times a week, it said.
Harms ranged from physical injuries, for example caused by replicating acts of extreme pornography, to mental health impacts, such as trauma from seeing violence online.
Britain is consulting on restricting children’s access to social media, including a possible ban for under-16s, as well as curfews, app time limits and curbs on what it has described as addictive design features.
Australia last year became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, with European countries considering similar measures.
Britain’s online safety law requires social media companies to take measures to protect children from illegal and harmful online content, but the government has committed to going further.
“The question isn’t whether we are going to act; we will, whether that is a ban on social media for the under-16s or restrictions on key features and functions,” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told BBC News.
Hundreds of British families are testing social media bans, curfews and app time limits to see how they impact children’s sleep, family life and schoolwork.
