The UK's telecoms regulator has found that almost a quarter of children aged five to seven own a smartphone while a similar proportion use social media unsupervised.
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In its annual study of children's relationships with media and online worlds, communications regulator Ofcom found that pre-school children are increasingly online and given more digital independence from parents, as calls for greater regulation of social media use among under-14s grow.
The research showed that 24 percent of five to seven-year-olds own a smartphone, while 76 percent use a tablet.
It also documents increasing use of online platforms, social media and games. The percentage of 5-7s using social media has increased from 30 percent last year to 38 percent in the 2024 survey. Many of the most popular apps on the market have seen big increases over the same period: WhatsApp usage is up from 29 percent to 37 percent; TikTok from 25 percent to 30 percent; and Instagram from 14 percent to 22 percent.
