Members of co-operative youth organisation Woodcraft Folk have voted to prioritise the digital wellbeing of all ages ahead of the government’s announced plans for an under-16 social media ban, calling for young people’s views to be more central to decisions.
The organisation, which runs youth groups for children and young people across the UK, aims to provide education for social change while ensuring young people’s voices are heard and amplified.
Young people in Woodcraft Folk are now demanding that the government reconsider its policy for age-based restrictions of social media in light of announcements for an under-16 ban. They also raise serious concerns about outright restrictions on some platforms such as YouTube, which are used for instructional guides as much as social media.
Following Woodcraft Folk’s annual conference in June, the organisation has adopted a digital wellbeing resolution, calling on the government to urgently review social media restrictions for all ages, rather than focusing solely on their detriment to those aged 16 and under.
A motion, passed unanimously by members, argues that while concerns about digital wellbeing are real, and action is needed, “approaches which rely on arbitrary age cut-offs” fail to address the wider problems of harmful content, misinformation, radicalisation and addictive platform design that impact users of all ages.
Woodcraft Folk consulted a diverse range of its young members in the months before the government’s proposed ban. While many called for stronger protections online, there was no consensus in favour of a blanket ban, with participants instead calling for improved moderation, stronger content controls and greater accountability by social media companies.
Suzannah Walker, coordinator of Woodcraft Folk’s Venturer Committee (for members aged 13-15 years), said: “The discussions within Venturer Committee showed that social media can be both harmful and beneficial to children, young people and adults. While many support stronger protections online, they were clear that the conversation cannot stop at age-based bans.
“All ages need support and guidance to use social media safely in a manner that protects their own and others’ wellbeing. Young people want action on harmful content, misinformation, addictive platform design and the responsibilities of technology companies. Above all, they want their voices to be heard.”
Lloyd Russell-Moyle, general secretary and CEO of Woodcraft Folk, added that as a youth movement rooted in co-operation and social justice, the organisation would champion young people to secure action on the changes they want to see.
“Young people should be at the heart of feeding into any new policies that directly affect them, with the government working with young people, making their voices feel heard and not making decisions on their behalf without consultation,” he said.
“An age-based ban is not enough on its own; we need a risk-based system that places responsibility where it belongs, on technology companies and regulators, while ensuring young people have access to safe, well-moderated digital spaces. Nothing about young people should be decided without young people.”
Eddie Moriarty, chair of Woodcraft Folk, acknowledged the government was right to be concerned about online harms, but warned: “It is wrong to pretend that these harms are confined to children”.
He added: “Adults are also affected by disinformation, online extremism, addictive algorithms and harmful content. Solutions and responsibilities together with stricter, more appropriate regulations must lie with the tech companies behind these social media platforms rather than focus on restricting age limits alone.”
Following the ban announcement, Woodcraft Folk said it would call on the government, regulators, educators, and technology companies to work directly with young people to design future social media regulation and digital wellbeing policies that create safer online environments for young people.
