Spotlight on social media at the last APPG meeting before Parliamentary Recess

The APPG was delighted to welcome over 60 young people to Parliament on Monday 14 July for the last APPG meeting before summer recess. The topic of the meeting was on social media, and both the panel and young people spoke about the challenges and opportunities social media can bring, with an emphasis on mental health, online safety, and social connection.

On Monday, nine young people were selected from a range of sector organisations to give individual presentations on social media. They were nominated from: Tender Education & Arts, Catch22, Off the Record Youth Counselling, Scouts, Isle of Wight Youth Trust, The Mix, and Marine Society & Sea Cadets. They all spoke powerfully about the importance of youth voice and the Government needing to include young people in decision-making and design of policies and services. They also mentioned what good support for young people with social media should look like, arguing for more support and resources for young people navigating how to be online, which can currently be lacking.

Chair of the APPG Natasha Irons MP welcomed the young people to the meeting and detailed the importance of discussing how social media and mental health interact, particularly as it has been mentioned many times at previous APPG meetings. She was joined by APPG Officers David Williams, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, and Dr Lauren Sullivan, MP for Gravesham, as well as APPG Member Abtisam Mohamed, MP for Sheffield Central. All MPs in attendance engaged with the young people and encouraged their speeches.

On the panel for this meeting was: Wania Ahmad, Chair of the Youth Select Committee from the Youth Parliament; Matteo Bergamini, Chief Executive of Shout Out UK; Almudena Lara, Policy Director for Child Safety at Ofcom; and Nicola Lee, representing Dignify, Associate Director of Community Services at One YMCA. The panellists spoke about the value of collaboration across sectors to improve social media support and accountability, as well as the need to educate both adults and young people on social media literacy. The importance of implementing the Online Safety Act and holding social media companies to account was also referenced, removing responsibility from young people who should be able to access the internet safely and without expectation of harm.

The presentations given by young people, as well as other comments and questions, will be collated, given the significance of the issue. We hope to welcome young people back to Parliament when the APPG meets again after Parliament returns in the autumn.