NEWS: NEU Backs Under-16 Social Media Ban

As reported by the National Education Union, calls for tougher restrictions on children’s access to social media have intensified after MPs highlighted concerns about the impact of online platforms on young people

Responding to a report from the Education Select Committee on screen time and social media, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said children had been exposed for too long to harmful material promoted by social media algorithms.

He warned that young people regularly encounter content linked to self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, misogyny and sexual exploitation, adding that it was significant the committee had recognised these risks as the result of platform design rather than chance.

Kebede argued that schools, parents and youth workers are currently left to deal with the consequences of online harms, despite having little control over the platforms themselves.

“Currently it falls on teachers, parents and other youth workers to have to deal with the consequences,” he said. “We agree with the committee that a rebalancing of this is vital.”

The union also backed the committee’s recommendation for stronger action, including a legal ban on social media use for under-16s.

“This cross-party committee agrees with teachers, parents and civil society groups that a statutory ban on the use of social media platforms for children under the age of 16 is necessary,” Kebede said. “It is time for the Government to listen to these calls and act.”