The Moment Society Started Looking at Social Media Like Smoking

28 May 2026

Paul Francis

Want your article or story on our site? Contact us here

A Cultural Shift That Feels Long Overdue

For years, the conversation around social media and young people moved in uncertain circles. Parents worried, teachers complained, campaigners warned, and technology companies insisted that their platforms were tools for connection, creativity and expression. Somewhere between those positions, most of society learned to live with the unease.

That unease now feels as though it has reached a turning point.

Teenagers seated in a row, each using a smartphone, with a bright blurred background and a quiet, absorbed mood

According to the BBC report, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has told a government consultation that social media use now ranks alongside smoking as a threat to the health of young people, urging doctors to routinely ask younger patients about screen time and social media use. The comparison is striking, not because social media and tobacco are identical, but because it places online platforms in a category society usually reserves for products that became widespread before their harms were fully understood.

The language matters. When senior medical voices begin comparing social media to smoking, the question is no longer whether parents are being overprotective or whether children simply need more resilience. The question becomes whether the systems young people use every day have been allowed to grow faster than society’s ability to understand and regulate them.

The Internet Was Not Supposed to Become This

The early promise of social media was not entirely false. For many young people, online platforms have offered friendship, creativity, identity and access to communities they may not have found locally. That part of the story still matters, because any serious discussion has to acknowledge that digital life is not simply harmful by default.

But the internet young people now inhabit is not just a neutral space where connection happens. It is a commercial environment built around attention, retention and engagement. The platforms are not merely hosting content; they are shaping behaviour through design choices that encourage users to stay longer, scroll further and return more often.

That is why the government’s consultation is not only looking at age limits. It is also considering restrictions on features such as night-time access, autoplay and infinite scroll, which suggests a growing recognition that the structure of social media itself may be part of the problem.

This is the deeper issue. We created platforms designed to maximise engagement, then seemed surprised when children found them difficult to leave.

Why the Smoking Comparison Lands

The comparison with smoking is powerful because it is not really about the product itself. It is about a pattern.

Lit cigarette on a ledge, smoke curling in a close-up against a blurred gray background, with a gritty, quiet mood

Smoking became normal before society fully understood the long-term consequences. It was advertised, glamourised, embedded into everyday life and, for a long time, treated as a personal choice rather than a public health problem. Only later did regulation, age restrictions and cultural attitudes begin to shift.

Social media is now passing through a similar kind of scrutiny. It has already become part of childhood before the evidence, regulation and cultural norms around it have fully settled. Families have had to make decisions in real time, often without clear guidance, while platforms developed at a pace that public institutions struggled to match.

The comparison is not perfect, and it should not be treated as if it is. There is no broad scientific consensus that screen time overall is harmful to children, as the BBC report itself notes. But the concern being raised is more specific than screen time alone. It is about exposure to harmful content, compulsive design, online pressure and the emotional impact of platforms that are constantly competing for a child’s attention.

The Harm Is Not Always Visible

One of the difficulties with social media harm is that it often does not look dramatic from the outside. A child sitting quietly on a phone can appear safe, calm and occupied. The risk is hidden inside the content they are seeing, the conversations they are having and the algorithms deciding what appears next.

The BBC article highlights concerns about young people being exposed to extreme violence online, and consultant child psychiatrist Dr Emily Sehmer told BBC Breakfast that damaging content can reach children within seconds. That speed is central to the concern, because unlike older forms of media, social platforms do not wait for parental permission, broadcast schedules or obvious entry points. They are immediate, personalised and often difficult to supervise properly.

This is why some doctors now want social media use to become part of routine health conversations with young patients. If online life is occupying such a large part of childhood, then ignoring it in medical and mental health settings begins to look increasingly unrealistic.

Ban, Restrict or Redesign?

The most difficult question is what should happen next.

Some campaigners and bereaved families are pushing for stronger age restrictions, arguing that platforms which expose children to harm should not be accessible until they have been made demonstrably safer. The BBC report notes that Australia has already introduced a ban, and that the UK government is considering whether something similar, or some form of restriction, should be introduced for under-16s.

Others argue that a blanket ban may not work, or could even create new problems. Children may find ways around restrictions, particularly if age checks are weak or inconsistent. There is also the risk that young people who rely on online spaces for support, identity or community could be cut off without proper alternatives.

That is why the more serious debate may not be between “ban” and “do nothing”. It may be about whether platforms should be required to remove or redesign the features most likely to cause harm before they are allowed to market themselves to children. Campaigners have called for restrictions on unsafe apps and design features such as infinite scrolling, disappearing messages and push notifications, with access linked to stronger safety standards rather than a simple one-size-fits-all ban.

The Responsibility of Big Tech

At the centre of this debate sits a question that technology companies have often tried to avoid.

If platforms are designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible, and if those users include children, then how much responsibility do companies carry for the outcomes that follow?

It is not enough to say that parents should monitor everything, because the scale and complexity of modern platforms make that expectation increasingly unrealistic. Nor is it enough to say that children must simply learn to manage their own use, when the systems they are using have been engineered by adults with enormous financial and technical power.

The tobacco comparison becomes especially uncomfortable here. For years, industries facing criticism have tended to present harm as a matter of individual responsibility while resisting structural regulation. Social media companies now face a similar challenge. If their platforms are safe, they will need to show it not through slogans, but through design, transparency and accountability.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told the BBC that action will be taken by the end of the year, and that the government is considering a broad range of issues, including platforms beyond traditional social media such as Roblox and Discord. That matters because children’s online lives do not fit neatly inside old categories. Gaming, messaging, AI chatbots and social feeds increasingly overlap.

Childhood in an Endless Feed

Part of what makes this issue so culturally significant is that social media does not simply take up time. It changes the texture of childhood.

Previous generations had boredom, distance and delay built into daily life. You could not always reach your friends. You could not instantly compare yourself with thousands of strangers. You could not carry an endless stream of images, arguments, violence, beauty standards, rumours and approval metrics in your pocket.

Today, many children grow up in a constant feedback loop. Their friendships, entertainment, identity and social status can all become entangled with platforms designed to refresh endlessly. That does not mean every child is harmed in the same way, but it does mean childhood itself is taking place under conditions that did not exist before.

This is why the debate feels bigger than screen time. It is not just about how many hours are spent online, but about what those hours contain, how they are structured and what they are teaching young people to expect from the world and from themselves.

A Public Health Question, Not a Moral Panic

There is always a danger that conversations about young people and technology become moral panic. Every generation worries about the next one, and new media has often been blamed for social change long before the evidence catches up, but dismissing this as panic would now be too easy.

When doctors, bereaved families, online safety campaigners, police leaders and government ministers are all asking whether stronger action is needed, the issue has clearly moved beyond casual parental concern. The disagreement is no longer about whether there is a problem, but about what kind of problem it is, and how far the state should go in trying to fix it.

That is why the next phase matters. Regulation built in haste can fail, but regulation delayed too long can leave children exposed while adults argue over details. The challenge is to act without pretending the answer is simple.

The Moment the Tone Changed

The most important thing about this debate may be the shift in tone. Social media is no longer being discussed only as entertainment, communication or harmless distraction. It is increasingly being discussed as an environment with health consequences, commercial incentives and design risks. That is a profound change.

Whether Britain moves towards a ban, tighter age checks, app curfews or restrictions on specific features, the cultural direction is becoming clearer. The age of treating social media as a neutral part of childhood may be coming to an end.

The smoking comparison may not be exact, but it captures something society is beginning to recognise. Some products become normal before we fully understand what they do to us.

And when that happens, the question eventually changes. Not whether people should have known better. but why does it take so long to act?

Current Most Read

Creative Strategies to Keep Small Business Marketing Fresh and Engaging

From Oil Lamps to the Moon: The Lifetime That Witnessed the Modern World Being Built

Paul Francis
Apr 14
5 min read

The Moment That Redefined What Was Possible

By the summer of 1969, humanity was no longer confined to Earth.

A lantern glows warmly among grass at night, and a large full moon shines brightly in a starry sky, creating a serene atmosphere.

As Apollo 11 touched down on the lunar surface, millions watched in real time as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon. It was not simply a scientific achievement. It was a moment that redefined the limits of what human beings could do, collapsing centuries of imagination into a single, grainy broadcast.

Now consider this. Imagine you were 75 years old as you watched it unfold.

You would have been born in 1894, into a world that, in many ways, still belonged to the 19th century. What you witnessed over those seven and a half decades would not feel like gradual progress. It would feel like the entire world had been rebuilt around you.

A Childhood Lit by Flame, Not Electricity

In 1894, modern life had not yet taken hold in the way we understand it today. Electricity existed, but it was far from universal. Many homes across Britain and beyond still relied on gas lighting, oil lamps or candles. Streets were dim, nights were quieter, and daily life was bound more closely to natural light.

Transport was slow and grounded. Horses dominated the roads, and while early motor cars had begun to appear, they were rare and unreliable. Travel over long distances was possible by train or ship, but it was not routine in the way it would later become.

Communication was deliberate and patient. Letters carried news across towns and countries. The telegraph existed, but it was largely confined to business and official use. The idea of instant, voice-based communication between homes was still emerging.

Medicine, too, was limited. There were no antibiotics. Infections that are now easily treated could prove fatal. Life expectancy was shorter, and the risks of illness were woven into everyday existence.

This was the world into which a person born in 1894 would open their eyes.

The Machine Age Begins to Take Hold

As the new century unfolded, change began to accelerate.

The early 1900s saw the rise of the motor car from novelty to necessity. Henry Ford’s introduction of assembly line production transformed manufacturing, making vehicles more affordable and gradually more common. Roads began to change. Cities began to expand.

Electricity spread steadily, first through industry and public spaces, then into homes. It altered how people lived, worked and rested. Artificial light extended the day. New appliances began to reduce the physical burden of domestic life.

At the same time, communication evolved. The telephone became more widely available, and radio emerged as a powerful new medium. For the first time, people could sit in their homes and hear voices from across the country, sharing news, music and major events in real time.

The world was becoming faster, more connected and increasingly mechanised.

War on an Industrial Scale

For someone born in 1894, the First World War would arrive just as they reached adulthood.

Beginning in 1914, it introduced a scale of conflict that had never been seen before. Industrial capacity was turned towards warfare, producing weapons, vehicles and technologies that transformed how wars were fought. Trench warfare, machine guns and chemical weapons created a brutal and prolonged stalemate across Europe.

The war reshaped borders, economies and societies. It also left a lasting psychological mark on those who lived through it.

The decades that followed brought both recovery and instability, culminating in the Second World War from 1939 to 1945. This conflict expanded across continents and accelerated technological development at an extraordinary pace.

Radar, advanced aircraft and early computing all emerged or matured during this period. The war ended with the use of atomic weapons, introducing a new and deeply unsettling dimension to global power.

For a single lifetime to contain two world wars is, in itself, a staggering reality.

The Home Becomes Modern

Between and after these wars, everyday life began to change in ways that were just as profound, if less dramatic.

Electricity became a standard feature of homes. Appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines and vacuum cleaners began to transform domestic routines. Tasks that once took hours of physical effort could now be completed far more efficiently.

Entertainment shifted as well. Cinema became a dominant cultural force, bringing stories and news to mass audiences. By the 1950s and 1960s, television entered the home, creating a shared national and, at times, global experience.

It is difficult to overstate the significance of this shift. A person who grew up without electricity could now sit in their living room and watch events happening on the other side of the world as they unfolded.

The Science That Changed Everything

Alongside these visible changes, deeper scientific revolutions were taking place.

The early 20th century saw breakthroughs in physics that redefined our understanding of reality. Einstein’s work on relativity and the development of quantum mechanics challenged long-held assumptions about space, time and matter.

Medicine advanced rapidly. The discovery of penicillin in 1928 marked the beginning of the antibiotic era, transforming the treatment of infections and saving countless lives. Vaccination programmes expanded, and surgical techniques improved.

Computing, in its earliest forms, began during the Second World War. These machines were large, complex and limited, but they laid the groundwork for the digital systems that would follow.

These were not isolated developments. Together, they reshaped how humanity understood itself and the universe it inhabited.

Astronaut in white suit stands on moon's surface at night, with starry sky overhead. Light casts shadows; calm and serene mood.

From Flight to Space

At the start of this lifetime, powered flight itself was a new and uncertain achievement. The Wright brothers had flown only a decade earlier, and aviation remained experimental.

By the mid-20th century, aircraft had become faster, more reliable and central to both war and travel. Commercial aviation began to take shape, shrinking the distances between countries and continents.

Then, in the late 1950s and 1960s, attention turned upwards.

The launch of Sputnik in 1957 marked the beginning of the space age. Yuri Gagarin’s flight in 1961 proved that humans could leave Earth. What followed was a rapid escalation of ambition, driven by Cold War rivalry and scientific curiosity.

Less than twelve years after the first satellite entered orbit, humans were walking on the Moon.

Watching the Moon Landing at 75

For someone born in 1894, watching the Moon landing in 1969 would not simply be impressive. It would be almost beyond comprehension.

They would remember a childhood without electricity, a youth shaped by horse-drawn travel and handwritten letters. They would have lived through two world wars, witnessed the arrival of radio and television, and adapted to a world that became faster and more complex with each passing decade.

And now, in their mid-seventies, they would be watching human beings stand on another world.

It is the compression of these changes that makes the moment so powerful. Progress did not unfold over distant centuries. It happened within a single human lifetime.

A World Remade Within One Generation

The period from 1894 to 1969 represents one of the most concentrated bursts of transformation in history.

In those 75 years, humanity moved from a largely local, mechanical existence to a global, electrified and technologically advanced society. The shift touched every aspect of life, from how people travelled and communicated to how they understood health, science and their place in the universe.

The Moon landing stands as the most visible symbol of that transformation, but it is only the endpoint of a much larger story.

To have lived through that era was to witness the modern world being built, piece by piece, until it no longer resembled the one you were born into.

And as the images from 1969 flickered across television screens, for some viewers, it was not just history being made.

It was the final confirmation of how far everything had come.