Screen time clampdown: Two-hour social media limit among measures 'being seriously considered' for teens
One option being explored is social media apps locking kids out if they scroll for too long 🔒
- Tech companies have to roll out new online safety measures to protect young social media users in the UK from this week
- But the technology secretary says he is considering further measures to help children cut back their screen time
- A few measures are being looked into, with an announcement expected in the next few months
- Too much screen time has been linked with a range of potential education, physical and mental health impacts for young users
The Government is considering new steps to help children and their parents regain control of their surging screen time.
In a new interview with Sky News, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle said he has now set his sights on curbing teenagers’ “compulsive” screen time. It comes as dozens of new restrictions meant to protect children online are set to come into force this week.
Websites and apps that allow adult content will have to carry out ‘highly effective’ age checks on their users, and algorithms must be configured to filter out harmful content from being recommended to children. Tech companies that don’t comply could face fines, or potentially even be made unavailable in the UK altogether.
Officials have previously said they were considering additional measures to further protect young people, including watching TikTok’s social media curfew trial with interest. Now, some light has been shed on what some of these potential changes could look like, and when families might learn more.
Here’s what he had to say:
Is the Government considering a screen time limit?
Sky reports that one of the measures being “seriously considered” after meeting with tech companies is a two-hour cap on social media platforms. Once children had used an app like TikTok or Snapchat for two hours, they would be blocked from accessing it until the limit reset.
Others had also been discussed, including curfews that made social media inaccessible late at night or during school hours.
The technology secretary told the broadcaster that he was concerned about the length of time children were spending scrolling these apps – as well as the content they were seeing there. “We talk a lot about a healthy childhood offline. We need to do the same online. I think sleep is very important, to be able to focus on studying is very important.”
He added that any new measures would ideally mean that not all of the responsibility fell onto parents’ shoulders. “I think we can incentivise the companies and we can set a slightly different threshold that will just tip the balance in favour of parents not always being the ones who are just ripping phones out of the kids' hands.”
When will parents find out more?
Kyle told Sky the Government would make an announcement on screen time “in the near future” – likely this autumn.
“I think some parents feel a bit disempowered about how to actually make their kids healthier online,” he continued. “I think some kids feel that sometimes there is so much compulsive behaviour with interaction with the apps they need some help just to take control of their online lives, and those are things I'm looking at really carefully.”
What risks does too much screen time pose?
A 2024 report from Parliament’s Education Select Committee found that young people’s screen time has shot up in recent years, a whopping 52% between 2020 and 2022. One in four children with a smartphone used it in a way that was consistent with behavioural addiction.
Too much screen time is linked with all sorts of problems. Those detailed in the report ranged from mental health effects – like children encountering harmful material online, allowing bullying regardless of location, and becoming panicky and upset when devices weren’t available – to physical health impacts, like sleep deprivation and children becoming more sedentary. Smartphones can even affect education, distracting pupils during class, and potentially impacting memory, processing speed, and attention, one study suggested.
Social media itself has its own unique perils. A psychologist told us that algorithms can hook young people into harmful thinking, bombarding them with extreme content designed to keep them engaged for longer – whether that be content that makes young boys more suspicious of girls and women, or that makes children feel bad about their own bodies.
For parents concerned about how much time their child is spending on their phone, here are the behavioural warning signs to look out for that suggest screen time might be getting out of hand. Or check out this story if you’re interested in finding out just how much screen time it’s recommended children should have at every age.