'Neuroscience can't pinpoint an exact age': Brain experts say the UK government's social media ban is based on flimsy evidence
- UK government plans to ban under-16s from accessing social media content, but experts say more evidence is needed on kids' phone use.
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Some UK teens will soon find themselves shut out from social media. | Credit: Getty Images
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Experts say more evidence is needed on kids' phone use
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They were speaking in a House of Commons Select Committee
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Right now "almost everything is correlational"
The UK government has now put in motion a plan to ban under-16s from accessing social media content in apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok — but elsewhere in the corridors of Westminster, experts are advising politicians that there's not much in the way of solid evidence when it comes to phone use and the childhood brain.
Speaking at the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee this week in the House of Commons (via The Register ), academics said that there just isn't enough data to show how social media and phone use might be shaping young minds as they develop.
"There is very little, if any, causal research in the early years," said Professor Denis Mareschal, who is the director of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck College. "Almost everything is correlational."
Those views were echoed by University of Cambridge Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, who said that the impact of "digital devices or social media" on adolescent brains amounted to "almost nothing". "There are a few small studies, but they haven't been replicated, and they're purely correlational," she said.
No precise age cut-off
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a social media ban for under-16s | Credit: Getty Images
However, while it's a case of more research needed, the experts certainly didn't dismiss concerns over child safety either. The panel acknowledged that reward and self-control systems in the brain are still forming during childhood and adolescence, and that even adults find phone use and social media addictive.
Dr Dusana Dorjee, from the University of York, made the point that time spent on a device is time not spent playing or interacting with others. A lack of that kind of multi-sensory input could be having an impact, she suggested.
As you would expect, there were questions about suitable age for letting children have phones and use social media, but according to Blakemore "what neuroscience can't do is pinpoint a precise age" — there's just too much variation between individuals.
AI chatbots were brought up too, but the answer was the same: we urgently need more evidence for their effects on kids and how they are relating to tools like ChatGPT. While there are a lot of worries and stories around these child safety issues, we're still waiting for the large-scale studies that can provide some definitive, data-led answers.
