UK at ‘crucial moment’ as Westminster considers social media ban for under 16s, says mental health expert

The UK is at a “crucial moment” after a Westminster consultation into an Australian-style social media ban for under 16s was launched last month, according to one of Scotland’s leading child psychotherapists.

Paul Bell, clinical director and consultant child and adolescent psychotherapist at The Anchor Practice, said the UK Government must use the consultation to ask difficult questions about how young people’s mental health is being affected by social media platforms, and whether enough is being done to protect them.

Last week, Anas Sarwar backed an Australian-style ban on social media for users under 16.

Claiming social media is “fuelling” a mental health “emergency” among young people, the Scottish Labour leader said a ban would protect them from “harmful and hateful content”.

Bell said: “What we are seeing, both in the clinic and across research, is a generation under significant psychological pressure from environments that were never designed with their development in mind.

“Social media platforms are not neutral tools - they are psychologically engineered ecosystems, designed to capitalise on the vulnerabilities of the developing adolescent brain. Their primary goal is prolonged engagement - often at the expense of a child’s mental health.”

The UK Government consultation is also exploring alternative ways to protect young people online, including restricting features on apps designed to hold user engagement or implementing phone curfews.

A report by the World Health Organisation in 2024 found that one in 10 adolescents showed signs of problematic social media behaviour, struggling to control their use and experiencing negative consequences, while over a third of young people reported constant contact with friends online.  

Bell warned that adolescence is a uniquely vulnerable period due to the rate and scale of neurodevelopment and heightened sensitivity to social comparison during this developmental phase.

He said: “Teenagers are naturally drawn to peer interaction - that’s part of healthy development. But when that drive is exploited through constant social validation mechanisms like ‘likes’ and ‘streaks’, it becomes a mental health risk.

“We're not just talking about distraction or time-wasting - we are dealing with systems that can seriously distort a young person’s sense of identity, self-worth and social reality. These harms are now widely recognised by frontline professionals across education, health and social care.”

He has also said that the business model of social media companies, to keep users on the platform for as long as possible, is at odds with the wellbeing of children and young people.  

Bell added: “Let’s be honest: keeping young people online benefits shareholders more than it benefits families. There’s an inherent conflict of interest when platforms rely on constant engagement from under-18s to drive advertising revenues. That’s why regulation must look beyond surface fixes or blanket bans and address these fundamentally exploitative design practices.”

Australia became the first country in the world to ban children from accessing social media platforms in December.

Ten platforms are currently covered by the ban, with social media companies facing fines if they do not enforce it.

UK ministers are expected to visit Australia as they consider implementing their own ban.

The consultation would also see stricter rules around phones in schools in England, though this would not apply to Scotland as it’s a devolved area.

Scottish ministers have resisted the idea of a mandatory ban on phones in schools, instead opting to include this in guidance and leaving the final decision to headteachers.