Medical leaders have warned that social media and smartphone use is as harmful to children as smoking, according to a report submitted to a UK government consultation. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AOMRC), representing 23 royal medical colleges and faculties across the UK and Ireland, stated that social media 'ranks alongside smoking and wearing seatbelts in cars as a unifying force for the medical profession'.
The report highlighted that doctors are seeing a 'wave of radicalised children' due to exposure to 'hateful, addictive and grossly distressing content'. The AOMRC said: '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.'
The consultation on potential social media restrictions for children closes on Tuesday (May 26). It could pave the way for an Australia-style ban on under-16s using social media, or lead to other measures such as limits on scrolling or overnight curfews. Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting backed a ban, comparing social media to tobacco: 'It's extremely addictive, bad for our health, and big tech is borrowing the big tobacco playbook to avoid regulation.'
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said she would be 'unstoppable' in cracking down on social media harms, adding that the government can implement the results of the consultation immediately. However, a coalition of children's organisations, including the NSPCC and Girlguiding, warned that focusing solely on age limits risked failing to address structural drivers of online harms. They called for a ban on targeted advertising, manipulative design features, and stronger regulation of AI systems.
