The Committee plans to hold two evidence sessions focusing on screen-time and social media. The sessions will help inform the Committee's submission to the Government's consultation into Growing up in the online world, and follow-up on the previous Committee's report into screen-time.
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Report - Growing up in the online world: The Education … | HC 187 | 21 May 2026 | 24 | Pending |
The Committee concludes that online harms affecting children are widespread, severe and systemic. The evidence we heard demonstrates clear links between children’s exposure to harmful online content (including material promoting self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, misogyny and sexual exploitation) and serious deterioration in mental health, wellbeing and behaviour, with tragic consequences …
These harms are not accidental or isolated, but occur because of platform design choices, including algorithmic recommendation systems, infinite scrolling, autoplay and private messaging features, which repeatedly expose children to harmful or exploitative content at a scale which reactive moderation by the companies is not effectively addressing. (Conclusion, Paragraph 7)
The Committee is clear that the companies whose platforms are responsible for these harms cannot be left to self-regulate. We recommend that the Government treats online harms to children explicitly as a safeguarding and public health issue, rather than relying primarily on content moderation and reactive reporting systems. Preventative regulation …
Existing advice and resources for parents and carers are inconsistently promoted and insufficiently clear, leaving many families unsure how to manage screen use in a way that supports their children’s development, learning and wellbeing. (Conclusion, Paragraph 10)
We recommend that the Government develops and promotes clear, evidence-based national guidance for parents and carers on children’s use of digital devices and online services. This guidance should: 15 • set out age-appropriate principles for children’s screen use, including for pre-teenage children aged five and over, young teenagers, and 16-to-18-year-olds …
We recommend that this guidance be co-designed with parents and carers, educators and child development experts, and communicated through schools, health services and online platforms, ensuring that families are supported to create healthy digital environments at home alongside significantly strengthened regulation of social media companies. (Recommendation, Paragraph 12)
We recommend that the Government introduces mandatory restrictions on high-risk and addictive design features, such as infinite scrolling, disappearing messages and algorithmic messages for under-18s, with appropriate age-related restrictions enabled by default, rather than relying on voluntary measures or user opt-ins. (Recommendation, Paragraph 15) Impact on schools, teachers and children’s …
Too much responsibility for managing online harms is currently placed on children, parents and carers, and schools—groups with limited power to influence platform behaviour. Schools are bearing a growing safeguarding and behaviour-management burden arising from online activity that takes place beyond the school day. Evidence shows that this burden is …
We recommend that the Government rebalances responsibility for child online safety decisively towards social media and technology companies. The Government must ensure that schools, teachers and families are supported by regulation rather than left to compensate for unsafe digital environments, over which they have minimal control and cannot reasonably be …
Action on mobile phone use in schools is necessary and broadly supported by teachers and school leaders. However, restrictions within schools alone cannot address the drivers of harm that originate in the wider online environment. We are concerned that the inconsistent application of guidance undermines schools’ ability to enforce restrictions …
Schools should not be able to adopt “not seen or heard” policies towards phones, whereby children can still have their phones in their school bags throughout the school day. This approach does not alleviate the distraction of mobile phones or prevent their use completely. Schools should be able to choose …
The Government should publish detailed guidance on exemptions to the phone free policy, for example, for children who have smartphone enabled assistive technology or who are young carers, covering the implementation of exemptions and how children with exemptions will be protected from bullying and pressure during the school day. (Recommendation, …
The Committee believes that social media organisations’ reliance on incremental improvements, voluntary measures and shared responsibility falls way short of the level of accountability that is required to address the scale and seriousness of the risks faced by children online. Social media companies have not yet demonstrated a sufficient level …
We recommend that the Government uses the powers available to it to impose clear, enforceable duties on platforms to prioritise child safety by design, backed by meaningful sanctions for non-compliance. (Recommendation, Paragraph 28) 17 The case for restricting social media use
There is a compelling case for an outright statutory ban on social media access for under-16s in order to reset the relationship children and families have with digital devices and social media, and to arrest the current harm. The evidence demonstrates that current regulatory and voluntary approaches have failed to …
The Committee recommends that the Government introduces a statutory ban on the use of social media platforms for children under the age of 16. It is time to apply the brakes and prioritise children’s safety. (Recommendation, Paragraph 33)
The Committee is clear, however, that a ban alone is not enough to tackle the scale and complexity of the harms identified. Evidence suggests that children are likely to continue to access online services through circumvention and by accessing platforms that fall outside the definition of social media. For this …
We recommend that the Government introduces a risk-based and age- appropriate regulatory framework that applies consistently across social media, gaming and hybrid platforms, private messaging sites and AI chatbots, including sites and platforms widely used by children. This would have clear benefits in terms of future-proofing the approach to safeguarding …
Age-based safeguards, including minimum age requirements and child protections, cannot be effective without robust, accurate and consistently applied age-assurance systems. Current approaches are unreliable and undermine both safety measures and public confidence. Whilst concerns have been raised about circumvention, including the use of VPNs, the evidence suggests that this is …
We recommend that the Government works with mobile phone manufacturers to ensure that robust safety-by-design features are available and can be activated on all phones that can be used by children, including strengthening age-verification processes for downloading apps. (Recommendation, Paragraph 37)
We recommend that the Government establishes a clear and enforceable framework for age assurance across platforms likely to be accessed by children, with independent oversight and regular assessment of effectiveness. (Recommendation, Paragraph 38)
The Committee welcomes the publication of screentime guidance for under- 5s and recommends that the Government urgently publishes evidence- based screentime guidance for children and young people from the age of 5–18 with appropriate age-related strata. (Recommendation, Paragraph 39)
The Committee is clear that further research is needed on both the risks and dangers of social media, and gaming and hybrid platforms for those aged under 18, and the effectiveness of the measures that are needed to tackle and mitigate these pressing problems. As part of the implementation of …
Although it is beyond the scope of this Committee’s remit, it is clear that the issues that impact children also extend into adulthood. We encourage the Government to expand its work on social media harms and to investigate thoroughly their impact on adults. (Recommendation, Paragraph 41) 19
| Date | Witnesses | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Apr 2026 | Daniel Kebede · National Education Union, Darren Northcott · NASUWT The Teachers' Union, Dr Adam Read · SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd, Esther Ghey · Brianna Ghey Legacy Project, Jacqueline Beauchere · Snapchat, Mr Andy Burrows · Molly Rose Foundation, Rani Govender · National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Sarah Hannafin · NAHT, Tom Middlehurst · Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) | View ↗ |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Ali Laws · TikTok, Alistair Law · TikTok, Laura Higgins · Roblox, Professor Amy Orben · University of Cambridge, Professor Pete Etchells · Bath Spa University, Professor Victoria Goodyear · University of Birmingham, Rebecca Stimson · Meta, Sanjit Gill · Snapchat | View ↗ |
| Date | Direction | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 19 May 2026 | To cttee | Letter from Roblox on Screen Time and Social Media dated 30.04.26 |
| 19 May 2026 | To cttee | Letter from Meta on Screen Time and Social Media dated 08.05.26 |
| 29 Apr 2026 | To cttee | Letter from Snap Inc on attendance at Committee meeting dated 27.04.26 |