Restricting Access Risks Driving Vulnerable Young People Underground and Away from Help
As a national specialist organisation dedicated to self harm and suicide prevention, Harmless is compelled to voice our profound concern regarding the government’s proposed ban on social media for young people under the age of 16. While we fully understand and share the deep anxieties surrounding the digital landscape, our informed, frontline perspective is clear: a blanket ban is not the right way to address this crisis, and it poses a very real threat to the safety of young people.
Had social media never been introduced to our society, the conversation today might be different. However, the reality of 2026 is that the digital world is inextricably woven into the fabric of youth culture. The evidence consistently shows us that social media carries benefits as well as dangers. For many young people – particularly those who are vulnerable, isolated or struggling – social media provides critical opportunities for connection, peer support, and a sense of belonging. It is precisely how this generation finds information, navigates their identity and reaches out for help. By implementing a total ban, we risk cutting them off from the very lifelines that tell them how and where to find hope.
Our CEO, Caroline Harroe, comments:
‘Young people are already a deeply disempowered community. With this policy, we are choosing to police them and restrict their options instead of robustly policing the multi-billion-pound tech companies and the toxic content they host. This is short-sighted. My fear is that this policy will become a distraction from the complex, structural factors driving poor youth mental health – such as poverty, social exclusion, discrimination, family stress and educational pressure. If we are serious about improving wellbeing, we must invest in evidence-based policies that tackle these root causes of distress’.
Furthermore, Harmless highlights the severe, unintended consequences of driving youth internet use underground. We have already seen the limitations of state regulation; the Online Safety Act was introduced with the promise of protecting children from unsavoury content, yet it has failed to act accordingly. Young people still encounter the exact same horrific material today as they did before the legislation, managed by agonisingly slow enforcement mechanisms that can take over 13 months to address illegal content.
If mainstream, regulated spaces are banned, young people will inevitably find their way to less moderated, entirely unregulated corners of the web. If a young person experiences harm in these hidden spaces, they will be far less likely to disclose their experiences or seek support out of fear of punishment or losing their devices. This shift will make young people significantly harder to reach and potentially far less safe. It will also mean organisations like Harmless will face immense barriers to delivering messages of help and intervention to the young people who need us most.
Rather than relying on isolation and restriction, our collective focus must pivot toward empowerment. We need to invest in equipping young people with the skills to navigate the online world safely and confidently through comprehensive education on digital citizenship, critical thinking and online relationships.
We urge the Executive to reconsider this damaging approach. We must work with young people to co-design a digital strategy that holds tech giants strictly accountable, preserves access to vital support networks, and builds the resilience and opportunities our youth need to thrive.
