Addiction, doom scrolling, cyberbullying most common social media harms among youth

SINGAPORE – Addiction and doom scrolling are the most commonly cited harms of social media use among youths, followed closely by cyberbullying and inappropriate content.

These findings come from a new report published on Sept 14 by YouthTechSG, a youth-led charity.

The study examined how young people experience social media and the harms they encounter through focused group discussions, street interviews and an online poll.

It also explored the protection young people consider practical and trustworthy, with combined responses from 227 people aged between 13 and 35.

More than one in five of the 116 respondents who took part in the focused group discussions and street interviews cited addiction and doom scrolling as the most common harm they experience on social media. This is followed by cyberbullying, toxicity and inappropriate content.

Nearly half of the 111 online poll respondents said that platform-design mechanisms such as infinite scroll and recommendation systems are the primary source of harm. Other commonly-cited sources of harm are user or AI-generated content and unwanted messages.

“User behaviour remains an important part of the explanation for poor online conduct,” said YouthTechSG in its Youth Digital Pulse Report.

The report added that anonymity, reduced social cues and physical distance can weaken the restraints that are usually present in face-to-face interactions.

YouthTechSG’s report comes on the back of the government’s renewed push to make social media safer for younger users.

Measures being considered include daily time limits and turning off auto-play by default to curb infinite scroll. The authorities are also studying other ways to counter addiction, dangerous interactions, and unhealthy comparisons.

Legislative changes will be tabled early in 2027 to facilitate enforcement through age checks, said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo in August.

She added that social media services that are unable or unwilling to introduce safeguards may have to raise their minimum age requirement from the industry standard of 13 to 18.

Three quarters of the respondents in the online survey said better in-app reporting and support tools could be effective in addressing social media harms. More than half of respondents also backed having less algorithm-driven and more chronological feeds to tackle harms effectively.

Nearly four in five of 39 youths that participated in the focused group discussions opposed a blanket ban on social media for young people. They cited a “cliff effect” where youths would face abrupt transition moving from full restrictions to a completely unrestricted online space with minimal safeguards.

The lived experiences of young people must be used to shape the safeguards that the government mandates, said Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Rahayu Mahzam during the launch of YouthTechSG’s report at the Singapore Management University on Sept 14.

“What struck me is that a large majority of youths consulted for the report did not see an outright ban on social media as the answer,” said Rahayu.

“Many youths want strong safeguards against online harms, but also room to learn, participate, and grow in the digital world.”

A panel discussion at the event titled ‘From insight to action, making social media safer for youths’ also brought together experts to delve deeper into the study findings.

The panellists include director of SMU Centre for Digital Law associate professor Jason Grant Allen, SMU’s vice-president of partnerships and engagement and professor of communication and technology Lim Sun Sun, director of the Ministry of Digital Development and Information’s information policy division Angela Tan, and head of advocacy at YouthTechSG’s YouthTech Institute Zoe Toh.

Getting firms to act against their own commercial imperatives of maximising engagement would be a major challenge, said panellists. The panel discussion was held under Chatham House rules, which allow the reporting of what was said but not who said it.

“Algorithmic recommendations, auto-play, and infinite scroll…these kinds of engagement-driven features will always be working against users rather than for them,” said one panellist.