Growing Up in the Online World - DSIT Consultation Response

Key position

Blanket social media bans risk reducing what is fundamentally a systemic, technological, and commercial issue to a young people’s problem, thereby individualising the problem as if it were inherently caused by youth behaviour.

We argue that the issue is multifaceted and complex and cannot be addressed by focusing on a single factor or actor alone. Many harms are embedded in platform design, including algorithmically driven interaction, weak moderation, and commercially incentivised architectures. Effective policy should therefore recognise shared responsibility across governments, technology companies, families, and users, while addressing the economic models that shape digital environments and strengthening access to digital literacy development: training for professionals and learning for young people and parents.

At the same time, digital wellbeing requires a broader conceptualisation. Rather than focusing narrowly on individual use of digital technologies or their screen time, i.e., a human-computer interaction, it is key that policy also recognises young people’s online lives as social and relational, shaping identity, belonging, learning, creativity, and civic participation within complex digital ecosystems. Accounting for the quality of digital engagement is key to developing a more comprehensive understanding of digital safety and wellbeing.