As with most social networks, users of Meta platforms must be 13 or over, but as Ofcom revealed in a recent report many much younger children use accounts, sometimes with the knowledge of their parents. The Instagrm and Facebook addictions has been under investigation by the European Union commission over whether they are so addictive that they are having “negative effects” on the “physical and mental health” of children. Meta, which owns both platforms, says it has “spent a decade developing more than 50 tools and policies” to protect children. How Meta checks the ages of users – so called age assurance – is of concern to the EU. DO you think that Instagram and Facebook has contributed greatly to children’s mental health issues ?

