"That Is the Business Model” - Professor Baines Warns on Children’s Screen Addiction

When BBC Radio 4’s Today programme looked at how platforms are designed to keep under-16s engaged, they turned to Gresham Emerita Professor if IT, Victoria Baines.

The government held a summit on a possible social media ban, inviting executives from Google UK, Meta which runs Facebook, TikTok, and X - the social media network formerly known as Twitter.

The prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, said parents were concerned about the impact these online platforms can have, including concentration, sleep, relationships and worldviews.

Ahead of the meeting on Thursday, 16 April, Professor Baines spoke to Justin Webb about the reality of any such ban based on what has happened in Australia. Measures include limiting access to illegal or adult content.

This has not been a universal success.

"In Australia we've seen that, although millions of accounts have been taken down for under 16s, young people are still reporting that they can access social media," she said.

When asked about how children can stop being glued to their screens, she said: "That is the business model … The regulator Ofcom has been accused of dragging its heels a little bit in terms of monitoring and enforcement, especially when we're seeing bans in other countries but ultimately it's on the on the companies as well as the government to make sure that if online environments are open to children they are protected from harm as far as reasonably possible."

Professor Baines is the Gresham IT Livery Company Professor of Information Technology, and a leading authority in the field of online trust, safety and cybersecurity.