Minister suggests time cut-offs for children on social media

YOUNG teenagers’ social media usage will be limited to no more than a few hours browsing under new proposals outlined by ministers, it emerged last night.

Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said there was a “genuine concern” about how long young people were spending online.

He suggested the Government would look to tackle worries over the impact this might have on their health, amid widespread concerns that spending hours on end on social media can affect their psychological well-being.

Under the plans, ministers would impose stricter checks on the age limit when children can first set up a social media profile, which is set at 13.

It would see sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter having to implement stricter age verification, as currently children only have to enter their date of birth. Users can get around this restriction by falsifying this data relatively easily but risk violating the sites’ terms and conditions.

The move would mimic moves made on pornography websites, where age verification has been implemented. However, details of how it might work are yet to be developed.

“There is a genuine concern about the amount of screen time young people are clocking up and the negative impact it could have on their lives,” Mr Hancock told The Times. “It is right that we think about what more we could do in this area.”

The Government has announced it will introduce a new code of practice this year, setting out the minimum expectations on social media companies.

The proposal comes following a recent poll by the Association of School and College Leaders, which found most school leaders believe the mental health and well-being of pupils had suffered as a result of social media use over the past year. Currently, the average child aged 12 to 15 spends more than 20 hours a week online. Surveys have also suggested as many as three quarters of children aged 10 to 12 have social media accounts.

Mr Hancock also said: “For an adult I wouldn’t want to restrict the amount of time you are on a platform but for different ages it might be right to have different time cut-offs.”

One idea about how this could be set up would see parents register their children on social media, followed by sending them a code to enter to get on to the site. It is likely the companies themselves would have to implement the changes. Another proposal would reportedly see age ratings on platforms like Youtube, much like the film classification system.

It comes after Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, warned last month that excessive social media use posed as big a threat to children’s health as smoking or obesity.