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Social media addiction should potentially be clbadified as a disease, said MPs calling for tough new regulations to protect children from companies operating in a "Wild West Online".
In a new report examining the impact of social media on mental health, MPs said platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram should be regulated by Ofcom and obliged to comply with a code of ethics. legal conduct.
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Social Media and Mental Health and Youth Well-being still has a long way to go in tackling online graphic content, including suicide and self-harm.
The government has been asked to publish notices for young people (Peter Byrne / PA)That comes after 14-year-old Molly Russell's father, who committed suicide in 2017, said Instagram had "helped kill" her daughter.
In its report, the APPG said that the government should publish notices about the time spent online for young people. Research should also be conducted to determine whether the "addictive" nature of social media should be officially clbadified as a disease by the World Health Organization (WHO). ).
The WHO already lists gambling disorders, such as video game addiction, among diseases.
With regard to regulation, the APPG said the government should now "institute a duty of care towards all social media companies with UK registered users aged 24 and under." in the form of a statutory code of conduct, Ofcom acting as a regulator ".
The code, which would establish social media rules and known harm to young people – such as self-injury, eating disorders, low self-esteem, lack of sleep and excessive dependence on social media – should be in place at the end. from October, he said.
MEPs also called for the creation of a new social media alliance for health, to look at "growing evidence regarding the impact of social media on the health and safety of people." well-being, "funded by a 0.5% levy on the profits of social media companies.
The APPG stated that social media can have a positive impact on the lives of young people, including "enabling young people to express their feelings, to find support and to feel less isolated and lonely".
He also spoke of other negative impacts, including isolating young people with mental illness from access to "real" professional help, exposing them to online bullying and affecting their self-esteem. and their body image.
The evidence submitted to the APPG showed that social media was the most likely to affect girls' self-esteem, but that both bades were affected by long periods of time spent online.
Barnardo's told MPs that while 12% of children who do not spend time on social networking sites have symptoms of mental illness, this figure increases to 27% for those who stay at the sites for three hours or more per day.
Chris Elmore, Labor MP, President of the APPG, said: "I really think our report is the alarm signal needed to ensure – finally – that significant steps are being taken to mitigate the situation. negative impact of social media on youth mental health.
"For too long, social media companies have been allowed to operate in a Wild West online.
"And it is in this lawless landscape that our children work and play online.
"It can not continue. As the report makes clear, the time has come for the government to take action.
Shirley Cramer, Executive Director of the Royal Society of Public Health, said, "The key finding is the need for social media companies to have an obligation to protect vulnerable users and the need to protect themselves." regulations that would provide essential health and safety services. security protection for a lawless digital playground. "
Dr. Bernadka Dubicka, faculty chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists for Children and Adolescents, said she subscribed to the recommendations and called for more mischief research, funded by social media companies.
She added: "We wish to create a clear and legal duty of care for social media companies and an external regulator to handle this."
Dr. Max Davie, Head of Health Improvement at the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), said: "Social media has changed the social landscape and our children and our children young people are pilot pilots.
"The latest evidence suggests that screen time per se is not harmful to children's health but it is when it displaces other important activities, such as sleep, physical activity and interactions in the face to face, that it can cause damage.
The APPG report warned that "advertising regarding self-injurious methods, especially new methods, as well as the glamorization of suicide" can result in death.
In February, as a result of Ian Russell's campaign after the death of his daughter, the head of Instagram said that all graphic images of self-injury would be removed from the platform.
In his testimony to the APPG, Facebook, owner of Instagram, also referenced a range of Instagram accounts "dedicated to specific mental health issues, as well as hashtags such as #edrecovery and #bodypositive".
Facebook stated that "our community uses them to connect, document their recovery, and encourage and support people with similar experiences."
Facebook and Twitter were asked to comment.
A government spokesperson said, "The government will soon release a white paper that outlines the responsibilities of online platforms, how these responsibilities should be badumed, and what would happen if they are not.
"An Internet regulator, a statutory" duty of care "on the platforms and a tax on social media companies are all measures we are considering as part of our work."
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