Citation, extracts and comment below.
CITATION: Social media use in children as much a concern as smoking, says Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
BMJ 2026; 393 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2026-721073 (Published 26 May 2026)
Cite this as: BMJ 2026;393:e721073
EXTRACTS
Young people's use of social media is a public health emergency akin to smoking, the chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC) has said...
Jeanette Dickson wrote, “There can be few issues which have united clinicians so resoundingly in recent years as the impact that unfettered exposure to tech and devices is currently having on children and young people's health.
“It ranks alongside smoking and wearing seatbelts in cars as a unifying force for the medical profession.”...
“We are ringing the alarm bell now because too many of us are seeing harm to children and young people on a daily basis...
“Big tech, like tobacco, are hiding behind causal evidence when the individual harms are evident in daily practice...
Social media bans for young people are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Australia implemented a ban on social media for young people in December 2025, becoming the first country to do so, and Denmark, France, Greece, and New Zealand are considering similar measures.
COMMENT (NPW)
The most powerful and wealth industries in the world share a common purpose: to get people, and especially young people, addicted to their products
The tech industry, tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical and ultra-processed food industries all use highly sophisticated measures to manufacture addiction, with huge harms to public health.
HIFA stands ready to address these issues with a HIFA Project or Spotlight
www.hifa.org/projects
www.hifa.org/spotlights
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org