Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are seeking ethical approval for their pilot study on social media bans, time limits and curfews.

DSIT sought academic advice in designing the pilot study. The Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Dame Angela McLean, convened a roundtable of senior academics, alongside Chief Scientific Advisers from FCDO, DfE and College of Policing.

This advice included consideration of sample size. The pilots, by design, form a social research, qualitative study which is thorough, but not statistically representative. With 300 interviews with teenagers, and their parents, from varied perspectives, we aim to gather first-hand insights into their experience of social media.

DSIT worked closely with our delivery partner, Savanta, to design the study to established ethical standards, including securing informed consent from participants, the right of withdrawal, appropriate safeguarding arrangements, and data protection and confidentiality measures throughout.