LONDON: Hundreds of teenagers in the United Kingdom will take part in a trial of social media bans, time limits and curfews, as ministers consider potential measures to keep children safe online.
A six-week pilot run by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) will see 300 young people aged 13 to 17 from across the UK try out different restrictions on social media use to see the impact on their schoolwork, sleep and family life.
It comes as the government’s consultation on a potential Australia-style social media ban is set to conclude on May 26.
Participating young people and their parents will be split into four groups. One set of parents will be shown how to use parental controls to remove or prevent access to selected social media apps, replicating the effects of a social media ban.
Another group will have a one-hour-a-day cap on the most popular social media apps, including TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
The third will see parents block social media access for their child between 9 pm and 7 am, so they are still able to get online for a bit before and after school, and the final group will allow the teenagers the same access to social media as they currently have for comparison.
Families taking part will be interviewed at the start and the end of the trial to see how the ban or limits they piloted impacted them, and any difficulties they faced in implementing the limits.
The evidence from the pilot will inform the government’s decision on any policies aiming to improve children’s relationship with social media.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall said: "We are determined to give young people the childhood they deserve and to prepare them for the future.
"This is why we are listening to parents, children and experts with our consultation, as well as testing different options in the real world. These pilots will give us the evidence we need to take the next steps, informed by the experiences of families themselves.” – dpa
