Call for Facebook ‘safe limit’

MEDICAL experts have been instructed to draw up advice on the maximum time young people should spend on social media, the Health Secretary revealed.

Matt Hancock said he is ‘very worried’ by the growing evidence of the harmful impact on young people of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

He has instructed Britain’s chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies to prepare official guidance on safe time limits, similar to the advice given on how many units of alcohol a person should drink.

He told the Observer newspaper: ‘As a parent you want to be able to say “The rules say you shouldn’t use social media for more than a certain period of time.”

‘The terms of reference of Facebook and Instagram say you shouldn’t be on it if you are under the age of 13. But they do nothing to police that.’