British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has issued a direct warning to social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, calling out the endless scrolling features built into their apps as “really problematic.
The PM has demanded that the companies remove them. Speaking on BBC Radio on Monday, Starmer said the addictive design mechanisms embedded in social media platforms were not accidental — they were deliberate, engineered by algorithms intended to keep young users glued to their screens for as long as possible.“The addictive scrolling mechanisms are really problematic to my mind. They need to go,” Starmer said (via news agency Reuters).
‘Ban for under-16s being considered’
The Prime Minister’s comments come as the UK government actively weighs a range of measures to protect children online, including a potential ban on social media access for anyone under the age of 16.“We’re consulting on whether there should be a ban for under 16s,” Starmer confirmed, though he suggested that targeting the addictive design features themselves may be equally important than age restrictions alone.
Britain is currently testing a range of measures including social media curfews, app time limits and usage restrictions to assess their impact on children’s sleep, family relationships and school performance. The results of that testing are expected to inform future policy decisions. Starmer said that social media companies had designed algorithms that were intended to encourage addictive behaviour and parents were asking the government to intervene.
UK government has got more than 45,000 responses already
The UK government’s public consultation on children’s online safety has already attracted more than 45,000 responses, with the deadline for submissions set for May 26. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall used Monday’s announcement to appeal for broader participation, particularly from parents, teenagers and families with first-hand experience of social media’s impact on daily life.“We want to hear from mums and dads who are worried about the amount of time their children spend online and what they are viewing,” Kendall said. “We want to hear from teenagers who know better than anyone what it is like to grow up in the age of social media. And we want to hear from families about their views on curfews, AI chatbots and addictive features,” Kendall added.
