Social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok need to take action to stop young users wasting hours mindlessly scrolling never-ending videos, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday.
Britain, like other countries, is considering restricting access to social media for children and it is testing bans, curfews and app time limits to see how they impact sleep, family life and schoolwork.
“We’re consulting on whether there should be a ban for under 16s,” Starmer told BBC Radio. “But I think equally important, the addictive scrolling mechanisms are really problematic to my mind. They need to go.”
Social media companies had designed algorithms that were intended to encourage addictive behaviour, and parents were asking the government to intervene, Starmer said.
Australia in December became the world’s first country to ban social media for children under 16, with Greece and Indonesia also enacting similar bans.
More than 45,000 people had already responded to its consultation on children’s online safety, the UK government said, adding that there was still time to contribute before a deadline of May 26.
“We want to hear from mums and dads who are worried about the amount of time their children spend online and what they are viewing,” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said on Monday.
“We want to hear from teenagers who know better than anyone what it is like to grow up in the age of social media. And we want to hear from families about their views on curfews, AI chatbots and addictive features.”
