{"id":195507,"date":"2025-12-21T23:18:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T23:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/195507\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T23:18:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T23:18:09","slug":"major-nhs-warning-as-antisocial-media-causing-mental-health-issues-to-spiral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/195507\/","title":{"rendered":"Major NHS warning as ‘antisocial media’ causing mental health issues to spiral"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wes Streeting has warned that social media is increasingly becoming ‘antisocial media’ amid the NHS being overwhelmed by mental health issues among young people\"TheThe Covid pandemic and the rise of social media are among factors blamed for rising mental health issues(Image: Jam Press\/EE)<\/p>\n

Wes Streeting has warned that social media is increasingly becoming \u201cantisocial media\u201d and that the NHS<\/a> is being overwhelmed by mental health issues among young people.<\/p>\n

The Health Secretary reminisced on how difficult it was to sneak into the cinema as a teenager compared to how kids can access \u201cthe most extreme content\u201d online nowadays.<\/p>\n

The Cabinet minister suggested he is taking a leading role over Australia<\/a>\u2019s social media ban – which the Government has no plans to follow – saying he has ordered his officials to monitor the results to see if it should be brought in here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to think much more radically about how we support young people to navigate this new online world<\/a>,\u201d he told the Observer.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Top minister says Keir Starmer will remain as PM and issues brutal Reform attack<\/a>\"WesWes Streeting suggested he is taking a leading role over Australia \u2019s social media ban(Image: PA Wire)<\/p>\n

\u201c[It] has been a place of bullying, intimidation, sometimes misogyny, even radicalisation. I think about how difficult it was when I was a teenager to sneak myself into a 15 or 18 film at a cinema. Nowadays kids are able to access the most extreme content.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said kids need to learn how to use tech but \u201cthe challenge of social media is that it\u2019s increasingly antisocial media\u201d, adding: \u201cThat\u2019s why I think what Australia\u2019s doing is interesting and we should follow the results closely and see if that\u2019s something we should consider doing here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Covid pandemic and the rise of social media are among factors blamed for rising mental health issues.<\/p>\n

Ofcom\u2019s children\u2019s safety guide for tech firms came into effect in July. It forces social media platforms to ensure kids can\u2019t access harmful content amid a surge in self-harm and suicide cases linked to the online world.<\/p>\n

Some 64% of young adults in Britain say they have experienced mental health difficulties, according to a YouGov poll for UCL in September. Latest NHS stats show 507,136 people were in contact with children and young people\u2019s mental health services at the end of October.<\/p>\n

Ministers have previously said they\u2019re “keeping a very close eye” on the roll-out of the social media ban for under-16s in Australia. The ban, which came into force earlier this month, means that children under the age of 16 in Australia are no longer allowed to have social media accounts.<\/p>\n

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Some campaigners said such a ban could lead to bad actors targeting children in other online spaces, such as gaming<\/a> or messaging platforms<\/p>\n

Downing Street said earlier this month there were no plans for a social media ban in the UK. The PM\u2019s official spokesman said: \u201cWe understand parents\u2019 concerns about the impact of social media on children, which is why we\u2019ve taken some of the boldest steps globally to ensure that online content is genuinely age-appropriate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you know, there are no current plans to implement a smartphone or social media ban for children. It\u2019s important we protect children while letting them benefit safely from the digital world, without cutting them off from essential services or isolating them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, in the new year, parents are expected to get fresh guidance on screen-time for children aged five and under amid fears over spiralling use by youngsters.<\/p>\n

Bridget Phillipson is understood to be talking to England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty about children and young people’s use of social media. The Education Secretary is looking at advice on screen time, which has not been updated since 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wes Streeting has warned that social media is increasingly becoming ‘antisocial media’ amid the NHS being overwhelmed by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[3620,6727,134,554,555,111,139,1374,69,871,47066,60598,121057],"class_list":{"0":"post-195507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-bullying","9":"tag-cabinet","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nhs","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-smartphones","18":"tag-teenagers","19":"tag-wes-streeting","20":"tag-yougov"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}