Social media as bad for young people as smoking, top doctors say

The UK's most senior doctors have equated social media use with smoking as a major health threat to young people, urging the government to act on its consultation, which closes today [1]. In a formal submission, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges called for doctors to routinely check screen time and social media use during appointments with younger patients, citing physical and mental health problems linked to online content [1]. The government's consultation on potential restrictions for under-16s has received 70,000 submissions [1]. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall stated, "The question isn't whether we're going to act - we will," promising a response this summer and action by year's end [1]. Campaigners are divided on an outright ban, a measure implemented in Australia. Ellen Roome, whose 14-year-old son died in 2022, will tell Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer that social media should be "restricted until the companies responsible have fixed it and proven it is safe" [1]. Lord Nash, a former education minister, urged the government to deliver on its commitment to age or functionality restrictions "in the shortest possible timeframe" [1]. The comparison to smoking invokes a long history of public health regulation. Mandatory warning labels on cigarette packaging, first implemented in the United States in 1966, were designed to enhance awareness of health effects and faced strong industry opposition [2]. The current generation most affected, Generation Z, are the first cohort to grow up with ubiquitous digital technology and social media [3]. Research indicates that while they are often called "digital natives," the negative effects of screen time in the late 2010s were most pronounced in adolescents [3]. Concerns persist that heavy social media use can distort worldviews, hamper social development, and harm mental health [4]. Proposed UK measures include app curfews, stronger age checks, and disabling features like auto-play and infinite scroll [1]. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has suggested age verification be handled at the device level [1]. Ian Russell of the Molly Rose Foundation has argued for enforcing existing laws over "sledgehammer techniques like bans" [1].