This page sets out our position on the Government’s consultation on children’s use of mobile phones and social media, which recently closed and will inform a response expected in summer 2026. The proposals being considered include a range of measures aimed at improving children’s online safety, including age restrictions, age assurance, design changes to platforms, and parental controls.
We conducted a survey to gather anonymised input from people with lived experience of eating disorders, as well as loved ones and professionals, to help inform our position. These insights highlight both the potential benefits of stronger regulation and important considerations of relying on any single approach.
We also conducted a review of current evidence on online harms and benefits to inform our response.
We will continue to update this page in line with any future developments.
The consultation is exploring a range of potential measures aimed at improving children’s online safety and wellbeing.
These include:
Beat supports stronger action to improve children’s online safety. We believe children and young people should not be able to access social media environments that cannot demonstrate they are effectively preventing and reducing harm.
This includes recognising that eating disorder risk is not limited to children and young people alone. Risk of onset for eating disorders is highest during adolescence and young adulthood, and this vulnerability continues into adulthood. This must be reflected in how platforms are designed and regulated, as a one-size-fits-all approach risks missing ongoing harm beyond age 16.
Where platforms are unable to meet appropriate safety standards, stronger restrictions on access for children and young people should be imposed until safety can be demonstrated. Recent research from Ofcom, the UK’s communication and online safety regulator, found that eating disorder content was the most commonly reported form of harmful content that platforms are required to prevent children from seeing under the Online Safety Act. Nearly one in four children aged 11-17 reported exposure to this content, and this did not reduce after new online safety duties came into force in July 2025. This suggests that harmful eating disorder content remains widespread online and that current protections are not yet effectively reducing children’s exposure.
However, restricting access alone will not make online spaces safe. Platforms must be designed with safety in mind and be able to demonstrate they are actively preventing and reducing harm.
This includes how content is promoted and repeatedly shown to users, especially content linked to appearance, diet, and idealised body images, which the evidence shows can contribute to eating disorder risk. Importantly, harm is not limited to explicitly harmful content. Repeated exposure to appearance, food, and fitness-related trends can also contribute to eating disorder risk.
Under the Online Safety Act, platforms likely to be accessed by children already have duties to protect them from harmful content, including content that encourages, promotes, or provides instruction for eating disorders, which is classed as ‘Primary Priority Content’ under the Act. However, evidence and lived experience show that such content remains widely accessible. Strengthening enforcement of existing duties is therefore vital alongside any new measures.
We are supportive of measures that improve platform design and reduce exposure to harmful or addictive features. We also recognise that age assurance and parental controls may play a role, but only where they are designed carefully, respect privacy, and do not create additional risks or barriers to support. Education, media literacy, and support for families can also play a role, but evidence indicates that these approaches alone are unlikely to be sufficient and must exist alongside stronger system-level regulation.
Children and young people, as well as parents and carers, should not be expected to manage risks that arise from how platforms are designed. As such, the responsibility for online safety must sit first and foremost with social media companies.
Finally, we recognise the important role that online spaces can play in providing connection, support, and access to help. We support the development of safe online support environments where appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent harm.
We recognise that this is a complex issue and that people will hold different views on how to improve children’s safety online while protecting privacy and access to support. Any approach taken forward should be evidence-based, informed by lived experience, and designed carefully to avoid unintended harm.
Research highlights that the relationship between social media and mental health is not a straightforward one. The evidence indicates that time spent online, on its own, is not a reliable indicator of harm, and that impact varies depending on multiple factors, including how a person uses social media, the type of content they see and engage with, the platforms they use, and their individual circumstances and vulnerabilities, such as history of an eating disorder.
Additionally, age of onset of eating disorders typically spans adolescence to early adulthood, with some data suggesting a median onset at 18 years old (Solmi, 2022). Eating disorders and vulnerability online can occur at all ages, and risk does not end at 16. Therefore, improvements to online safety must reflect this.
Evidence highlights particular concerns around:
Evidence also highlights that online spaces can offer benefits, such as:
Evidence also suggests that neurodivergent people and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may experience additional barriers to support and different patterns of vulnerability online. Online safety improvements should therefore avoid unintentionally increasing exclusion or isolation, and must protect access to safe, supportive spaces for all.
This means that improving safety online requires more than restricting access. It is essential that platforms are designed with safety in mind and that harmful content is not available, promoted, or amplified.
Across the survey responses, there was significant concern about the impact that social media can have on children and young people’s mental health, self-esteem, and body image. Many respondents expressed concern about the amount of exposure to harmful and triggering content, and the wider impact this can have on wellbeing and education.
There was strong support for action to improve online safety. However, this support was often cautious, with respondents emphasising that any measures introduced need to be practical, enforceable, and designed in a way that does not create unintended harm.
People told us that:
Respondents consistently highlighted worries about the way harmful content is amplified and repeatedly shown to children and young people.
Overall, responses consistently reflect the perspective that current online environments are not adequately safe for children and young people, particularly due to the way harmful content is amplified and repeatedly shown. At the same time, respondents recognised the important positive role that online spaces can play.
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You might also like to access the Government website on helping your child to stay safe online, here.