Social media ranks alongside smoking as a danger to children, senior British doctors said on Tuesday as they urged lawmakers to tackle the harm 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 safeguarding children online, which closes on Tuesday.
“It ranks with smoking and the use of seat belts in cars as a unifying force for the medical profession.”
“There can be few issues that have united clinicians so resoundingly in recent years as the impact that unrestrained exposure to technology and equipment is currently having on the health of children and young people,” said the body, which represents the UK and Ireland’s 23 royal medical colleges and faculties.
More than half of the 132 doctors surveyed saw at least one case of health harm that could be related to technology and equipment every week, and over a third saw signs of harm several times a week, it said.
The injuries ranged from physical injuries, for example caused by copying extreme pornography, to mental health effects, such as trauma from viewing violence online.
The UK 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 restrictions on what they have 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.
The UK’s online safety law requires social media companies to take measures to protect children from illegal and harmful online content, but the government has pledged to go further.
“The question is not whether we will act; we will, whether it’s a ban on social media for under-16s or restrictions on key features,” said technology secretary Liz Kendall. BBC News.
Hundreds of UK families are testing social media bans, curfews and app time limits to see how they affect children’s sleep, family life and school work.
Experts disagree on how effective a total ban would be, as a group of young people in London recently told Reuters they were against restrictions.
