Today, the Muslim Council of Britain again adds its voice to campaigners and organisations across civil society as the Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he is considering raising the age of social media access to 16, following suit with the introduction of legislation by the Australian government last year. It is now calling for the minimum age to access social media in the UK to be raised from 13 to 16 years old, in similarity to what Australia implemented last month.
Dr Wajid Akhter, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said:
“Politicians are finally waking up to the toxic and harmful effects of social media on our children, this is a ticking time bomb. It is encouraging to see this week that the Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham speak out in favour of action to ban social media for under 16 year olds alongside the Prime Minister’s consideration to introduce this new legislation.
The government must act on the urgency of this issue, as future generations are being poisoned every day by addiction-induced algorithms that enable big tech companies to reap immense profits at the cost of their well-being. The Government’s announcement on Monday of an ‘Early years screen time advisory group’ is still inadequate – we do not fight a forest fire with a few buckets of water as the saying goes.
As a practising GP myself, the medical community has no end of research highlighting that higher social media usage is linked to a range of mental health symptoms, from anxiety and OCD to depression and eating.”
We must work together and not wait for the Government to get up to speed with this long overdue legislation. I urge parents, teachers and educators across the British Muslim community to lead by example – tell your children social media isn’t safe for them until they are 16 years old, build alliances for positive mental health groups so children don’t feel their friends are allowed whilst they are not, and let’s educate ourselves on responsible screen time and smart phone use as British families – many of whom have stolen quality time due to social media access.”
Read here a 16-year old Muslim student’s perspective on the harmful and toxic effects of social media: https://muslimcouncil.substack.com/p/afeaec90-1830-40cb-9cab-56dddfa54e54
Further Resources
Educational material and campaigns to support (not exhaustive):
- www.smartphonefreechildhood.org
- www.bigtechlittlevictims.org
- www.healthprofessionalsforsaferscreens.org
Recent MCB social media calls for action:
- https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSOI_kDiLN_/
- https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSFS545CBQh/
- https://www.facebook.com/muslimcounciluk/posts/1278908980942854/
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