Top Doctors Declare Social Media as Harmful as Smoking

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges — the body representing nearly every medical specialty in the UK — has formally compared social media's harm to young people to that of tobacco, and is calling on doctors to routinely ask about screen time during consultations. The statement adds institutional medical weight to a debate that UK lawmakers are already acting on, with ministers pledging an Australia-style ban on social media for under-16s. The academy's intervention puts the issue squarely in the category of a public health crisis, not a parenting preference.