Queen’s University Belfast has published a new report on young people’s experiences of online harm and social media use in Northern Ireland.
The report, Screens, Safety and Social Media, draws on insight from 2,129 16-year-olds who took part in the 2025 Young Life and Times (YLT) survey, part of ARK, Northern Ireland’s Social Policy Hub. For the first time, the survey asked about illegal and harmful behaviours experienced on social media.
The research was led by Professor Michelle Butler, Professor Dirk Schubotz, and Dr Martina McKnight, with support from the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI).
Findings include:
- Over 75% of respondents spent at least three hours on average per day on social media; 30% spent six hours or more. Females tended to spend more time on social media than their male counterparts.
- The survey also found a relationship between the time respondents spent on social media each day and poorer mental health.
- More than half of respondents had experienced harmful or illegal behaviours online. The most common were the posting/sharing of offensive, indecent or obscene material, sharing material without consent, and online stalking, all of which were experienced by at least one in five respondents. These were also the behaviours respondents said young people were most likely to perpetrate.
- Young women, same-sex attracted youth, those with disabilities or long-term illnesses, and young people from socio-economic backgrounds were more likely to be affected.
- Most online harm came from people young people knew offline. While 42% said the perpetrator was a stranger, 67% said it was someone they knew - like friends, classmates, ex-partners, or family members.
- Snapchat was identified as the social media app on which users were most likely to encounter illegal and/ or harmful behaviours, due to its features and popularity.
The report’s key recommendations include:
- More awareness raising and education in school and at home.
- Need for more research and greater recognition of how social media experiences may affect mental health and wellbeing.
- Better reporting mechanisms and stricter sanctions for perpetrators of illegal and/or harmful behaviours on social media.
- Implementation, regulation, and enforcement of the United Kingdom (UK) Online Safety Act 2023.
- Monitoring of research into adaptive artificial intelligence (AI) generated algorithms.
Report launch event
The Screens, Safety and Social Media report was officially launched on 8 September 2025 at an event hosted by Queen’s University Belfast, bringing together voices from government, research, and youth advocacy. Event participants included the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, Justice Minister Naomi Long, Prof Dirk Schubotz, Prof Michelle Butler, the Independent Chair of the SBNI Bernie McNally, Children’s Commissioner Chris Quinn, NICCY Youth Panel member Molly, Mental Health Champion Professor Siobhán O’Neill, and Ofcom’s Bimpe Archer.
ARK recorded the event, and you can watch the recording here.
