Evidence Library
Comprehensive data charts, academic papers, and statistical analysis on the impact of social media on children and adolescents.
Outcomes of Reporting Harmful Content Among 11-17-Year-Olds
This chart from the 2025 Ofcom Children’s Online Safety Tracker assesses the effectiveness of platform reporting mechanisms from the perspective of UK children (aged 11–17). It compares the period before and after the implementation of the UK Online Safety Act and Ofcom’s Children’s Codes. The data reveal a profound 'communication-action paradox': while platforms have significantly improved their procedural transparency, the rate of content removal has declined. There has been a significant shift towards 'process over outcome'. Following the introduction of the new safety duties, there was a more than twofold increase in the number of platforms informing children that 'they would look into it' (rising from 13% to 27%). Conversely, the percentage of reports where 'nothing has happened yet' fell sharply from 26% to 14%. However, this increase in communication coincided with a significant drop in content deactivation, falling from 41% to 27%.
Children aged 11-17 Response to Exposure to Harmful Content
This chart from the Ofcom Children’s Online Safety Tracker 2025 examines how UK children (aged 11–17) behave after encountering harmful content. It compares the period before and after the UK Online Safety Act and Ofcom’s Children’s Codes were implemented. The data reveal that passivity remains the most prevalent response, with almost half of children (47%) choosing to ignore or scroll past the content. However, a significant and positive trend emerges in the area of safeguarding and adult intervention. Following the introduction of the new safety duties, there was a statistically significant increase in the proportion of children telling a grown-up about their negative experiences, rising from 10% to 15%. This suggests that the regulatory focus on safety, transparency, and digital literacy may successfully encourage adolescents to seek help from trusted adults rather than navigate digital harms alone. Conversely, the data show a decrease in 'evasive' private actions, such as deleting messages (falling to 1%) or leaving group chats (falling to 2%). Use of platform-provided safety tools, such as reporting (12%) and blocking (11%), remained relatively stable post-regulation.
Functionalities Linked to Exposure of Harmful Content (11-17years old)
This chart from the Ofcom Children’s Online Safety Tracker 2025 identifies the technical features through which children in the UK (aged 11–17) encounter harmful content. It compares data from before and after the implementation of the UK Online Safety Act and Ofcom’s Children’s Codes. Despite new 'Safety-by-Design' mandates specifically targeting the re-engineering of algorithmic feeds, the data reveal that scrolling on personalised feeds (35%) remains the primary functionality through which young people are exposed to digital harm. A significant trend emerges in the shift towards 'secondary' social spaces. While exposure via feeds remained relatively stable, exposure through platform comments increased significantly, rising from 14% to 21%. This suggests that, although regulators have focused heavily on the 'push' of recommender systems, the 'human layer' of peer-to-peer interaction in comments has become a growing risk vector. Conversely, the data shows a statistically significant decrease in intentional search behaviour, which fell to just 1%, suggesting that new safety duties have been successful in making harmful content harder to find through search queries.
Service Associated with Recalled Exposure to Harmful Content (11-17y)
This chart from the Ofcom Children’s Online Safety Tracker 2025 illustrates the percentage of UK children aged 11–17 who associate specific online services with their exposure to harmful content. The data covers the period before and four months after the introduction of the UK Online Safety Act and Ofcom’s Children’s Codes. These introduced strict 'safety by design' duties, including re-engineering algorithms to prevent 'rabbit holes' of harmful content and removing addictive features for minors. Despite the introduction of these new regulatory duties, recalled exposure to harmful content increased on some platforms. TikTok remains the primary site of exposure, with a 9 percentage point increase to 53%, while Snapchat also saw a rise to 31%. Conversely, Facebook was the only major service to see some decrease in associated harm, falling from 38% to 31%. The data also highlights the prevalence of harm in gaming environments, with Roblox (25%) and Minecraft (13%) emerging as notable sites of concern.
Percentage of 8-17-Year-Olds Recalled Use of Services in United Kingdom
This data from Ofcom's 2025 Children's Online Safety Tracker illustrate the changing landscape of digital service usage among UK children (aged 8–17) following the introduction of the UK Online Safety Act and Ofcom's Children's Codes. The data reveal a statistically significant shift towards specific, highly engaging platforms, with usage of TikTok (60%) and Snapchat (50%) increasing four months after the new safety duties came into force. In contrast, legacy social media and messaging services, including Instagram (44%), Facebook (41%) and Facebook Messenger (29%), all experienced significant declines.
Children’s Views on Restrictions on Social Media
These data from the 2026 EU Kids Online report examine children's attitudes towards social media restrictions, revealing a delicate balance between their desire for autonomy and their acknowledgement of potential advantages. The data show that a significant proportion of European young people (47% in total) disagree with restrictions, fearing that they would make it difficult to participate in online discussions about news or politics, indicating concern for their civic participation rights. Similarly, almost half (48% in total) are concerned that restrictions would make it more difficult to stay in touch with friends, emphasising the social value of these platforms. A key trend emerges in the tension between perceived control and safety. While 45% of children agree that restrictions would limit their freedom and rights, only 33% believe that these restrictions would make them feel safer online. This suggests that young people are sceptical that bans would genuinely enhance their security. Furthermore, a significant proportion (48% total disagreement) would feel less comfortable if their parents knew which apps they used, emphasising their desire for digital privacy and autonomy from parental oversight.
Children’s Worries
These data from the 2026 EU Kids Online report illustrate the hierarchy of anxieties among 29,169 European children, contextualising digital risks within the broader scope of real-world concerns. The data reveal that children’s primary concerns are existential and academic: family illness or death (73%) and school performance (71%) significantly outweigh specific digital risks. However, digital risks carry a high 'intensity of worry'; for instance, although only 45% are concerned about non-consensual image-sharing, this issue receives the second-highest 'very worried' rating in the dataset (25%). A significant trend emerges regarding digital self-awareness. A total of 63% of children report being worried about 'using screens too much,' although the majority (39%) categorise this as 'a little worried'. Similarly, 51% of young people express concern about fake images (AI/deepfakes) and 49% about the difficulty of knowing who to trust online due to fake news.
Perception of Safety and Communication Online
These data from the 2026 EU Kids Online report explore how children perceive their own safety and the social dynamics of the digital environment. The data reveal a significant 'security-literacy gap': while the majority of children (61%) report knowing how to handle negative interactions online, fewer than half (48%) actually feel safe in digital spaces. This suggests that having the technical knowledge of 'what to do' does not necessarily translate into a subjective sense of security. The vast majority of children (76%) do not find other internet users to be kind or helpful, suggesting that a hostile or indifferent social environment is perceived as the norm by three-quarters of European youth. Only 9% of children report discussing personal matters online that they would not talk about face-to-face, and only 23% find it easier to be themselves online.
Children’s Online Activities
These data from the 2026 EU Kids Online report provide a comprehensive overview of the digital activities and habits of 29,169 children across 19 European countries. The data reveal that digital spaces are primarily used for social connection and entertainment. The most frequent activity is communicating with friends, with 77% of children doing so daily (48% several times a day). Social media is also a vital tool for family communication, with 66% of children communicating with parents or caregivers daily. Watching videos on social media (72% daily) and listening to music (70% daily) far outpace active digital production, only 13% of children report creating or editing digital content daily. Furthermore, 68% of children use the internet for schoolwork or to learn something new at least once a week.
Distribution of Daily Use of Screens During the Day
This chart from the 2026 EU Kids Online report illustrates the temporal rhythms of digital life for 29,169 children across 19 European countries. The data reveal a 'double-peak usage cycle': screen engagement reaches its primary peak in the afternoon after school (80% on average) and a secondary peak in the evening before bedtime (67% on average). While traditional social boundaries such as family dinners remain relatively 'offline' (15% usage), screen use has become a near-universal constant in the morning routines of older adolescents (71% of 15–16-year-olds). A significant trend emerges in the blurring of digital and institutional boundaries among older age groups. While younger children (aged 9–12) report minimal use during the school day, usage among 15–16-year-olds surges to 56% during school breaks and 38% while in class. Furthermore, the data highlight a significant 'sleep displacement' risk: almost half (46%) of 15–16-year-olds remain active after bedtime, with 29% using screens at night.