Lib Dems push cigarette-style warnings on social media and two-hour doomscrolling cap

The Liberal Democrats unveiled proposals to require cigarette-style health warnings on social media apps and to cap the time children can spend watching short-form videos at two hours a day, the party said ahead of its conference in Bournemouth. Victoria Collins, the party's science and technology spokeswoman, will outline the plan to curb what she describes as addictive algorithms driving mental-health problems among young people. The package argues that these apps carry well-documented risks similar to cigarettes or alcohol, particularly for youths.

A Savanta poll conducted for the party found that about 80% of parents say excessive phone usage affects their children's behaviour, with 25% reporting sleep disruption, 18% appetite changes, and 13% eye strain or headaches. About one in five parents said they had argued with a family member over excessive phone use, and 19% said their children had lost interest in hobbies or sports due to social media. A sixth-form student said social media felt as addictive as a drug and that they experienced daily negative effects from its use.

The warnings would note that extended exposure to social media content increases the risk of sleep disorders and mental-health conditions such as anxiety and depression, according to the party. The doomscrolling cap would end infinite scrolling and limit the amount of time children can spend on these apps, with a daily ceiling of two hours for video feeds.

The policy echoes earlier discussions in the United States, where former President Joe Biden and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy have explored cigarette-style health alerts on social platforms as part of addressing a youth-mental-health crisis.

Collins is due to set out the policy at the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth, signaling a renewed push by the party to tackle what it calls a mental-health epidemic linked to social-media use among young people.