Tax social media firms to protect young people’s health, MPs urge

The UK government should introduce a 0.5% levy on the profits of social media companies to fund research, educational tools, and clearer guidance to protect children’s health, a parliamentary inquiry has concluded.

Ministers should also commission a review to look at whether the “addictive” nature of social media is sufficient for official disease classification, advises the report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Media and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing.1

Chris Elmore, Labour MP and chair of the group, said, “For far too long social media companies have been allowed to operate in an online Wild …