More than 800,000 under-fives are on social media

A new report from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) estimates that more than 800,000 children in the UK aged three to five are already engaging with social media, while around 40% of children aged under 13 have their own social media profile despite current restrictions. Former education minister Lord Nash said evidence that “children who haven’t yet learned to read” are “being fed content and algorithms designed to hook adults” should “concern us all.” He said: “We need a major public health campaign so parents better understand the damage being done . . . and legislation that raises the age limit for social media to 16 whilst holding tech giants to account when they fail to keep children off their platforms.”