Committee publication · Correspondence · 16 June 2026

Letter from Secretary of State for Education and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, on Screen Time and Social Media dated 15.06.26

Summary

Chair Helen Hayes writes to the Secretaries of State for Education and Science, Innovation and Technology to highlight follow-up evidence from Meta, Roblox and TikTok on children's screen time and social media use. The Committee rejects the platforms' arguments that time online is not a meaningful harm indicator and concludes that platform-led safety measures fall short of systemic protection needed. The Chair urges government action on platform accountability and transparency.

Key findings

Meta maintains time spent online is not a meaningful risk measure and does not collect/share children's usage data, emphasising parental controls instead—a position the Committee rejects as limiting regulatory oversight
Roblox reports children spend average 2.6 hours daily on its platform; its Sentinel AI system detects only 35% of grooming cases proactively, leaving extent of undetected harm unclear
TikTok embeds 50+ preset safety features in teenage accounts but limits disclosure of moderation systems, reinforcing Committee's view that design features alone are insufficient
Committee identifies widening gap between platform-led safety measures and assurance level required for effective child protection, with persistent concerns about transparency and data availability

Tone

Critical

Topics

child-safetysocial-mediascreen-timeplatform-regulationonline-harms

Key actors

Helen Hayes MP, Bridget Phillipson MP, Liz Kendall MP, Meta, Roblox, TikTok, Education Committee

Notable line

“The Committee does not accept the argument that time spent online is not a meaningful indicator of potential harm.”

Key Quotes

“The Committee does not accept the argument that time spent online is not a meaningful indicator of potential harm.”
— Helen Hayes MP · Rejecting Meta's position on screen time measurement

“The absence of robust data on children's usage significantly limits the ability of regulators and independent researchers to assess patterns of exposure and risk.”
— Helen Hayes MP · Addressing data transparency gaps from platforms

“… an emphasis on design features alone falls short of the systemic protection that is needed to protect children online.”
— Helen Hayes MP · Evaluating TikTok's safety-by-design approach

“… there remains a widening gap between platform-led safety measures and the level of assurance required to protect children effectively online.”
— Helen Hayes MP · Overall Committee assessment of platform accountability

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗