Gen Zs favour social media ban for under 16s as digital fatigue hits

• Over half (53%) of Gen Z would favour a ban on social media for under 16s - rising to 71% of Millennials and 78% of Boomers;
• One in five (20%) consumers have deleted a social media app in the past 12 months, rising to one in three (29%) among Gen Zs;
• Half (50%) of consumers have turned off all notifications for one or more apps, and nearly one in five (18%) have set screen time limits to reduce their use of devices;
• Over a third (35%) of consumers plan on not purchasing a new device in the next 12 months.

A majority of UK consumers would favour a ban on social media for under 16s, including over half (53%) of Gen Z respondents who grew up in a social media age. According to the latest Deloitte Digital Consumer Trends survey, one in five (20%) consumers also said that they have deleted a social media app in the past 12 months rising to almost one in three (29%) among Gen Zs.

A quarter (25%) of those that deleted a social media app said they did so because it consumed too much of their time, while one in five (21%) blamed seeing misinformation on the app, or it was having a negative impact on their mental health (20%). This comes as three quarters (76%) of consumers said they have seen misinformation on an online platform in the last 12 months.

Additionally, half of consumers (50%) have turned off all notifications for one or more apps, with 32% doing so to reduce their time using technology. Meanwhile, one in five (18%) said that they have set new screen time limits on their devices, including 12% who did so to reduce usage.

Paul Lee, head of technology, media and telecoms research at Deloitte, said: “Streaks and scrolling are being snipped as consumers are reducing screentime and deleting apps – a sign of digital fatigue and de-digitisation as devices are being upgraded less frequently or even dropped. Over the course of the 2010s, UK consumers adopted new digital devices and services gleefully with the acquisition of new devices largely peaking in 2021. Since then, ownership of most devices has barely increased which suggests that UK consumers’ digital transformation has largely completed. Consumers appear to have grown fatigued with their devices, apps and experiences, and are attempting to change their digital habits. This means less screen time, bigger gaps between upgrades and slowing adoption levels for new devices and services.”

Adoption of devices and digital subscriptions remains flat in a multi-year trend. All major consumer electronic devices, including smartphones, laptops, and tablets have shown no significant signs of increased adoption in the first five years of this decade. In fact, access to tablets (adoption down 3% to 61%) and laptops (down 2% to 76%) seems on a downward trajectory.

More than a third of consumers (35%) also said that they do not plan to purchase a device in the next 12 months.

Similarly, the number of online subscriptions that consumers have access to has hit a plateau, with no category of digital subscription showing signs of significant growth in 2025. The volume of consumers with access to a video streaming (75%), music streaming (49%) and gaming subscriptions (19%) has hardly shifted in several years.

Lee added: “This multi-year trend of flat adoption is likely to persist in the short term and, in numerous cases, adoption may have reached its peak. The lifetime of many devices, particularly smartphones, may be reaching new equilibrium where replacement is driven by breakage and degradation rather than new features. This will mean a challenge for technology businesses to find new ways to monetise the lifetime of a device and find new and innovative ways to improve their products to entice consumers.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

Deloitte’s Digital Consumer Trends is a global survey measuring public perception of digital products and services. Spanning more than 15 years, research in this field has tracked the history of smart devices such as phones, tablets and virtual reality headsets, as well as applications, like social media, video streaming, and artificial intelligence.

The 2025 UK edition of Digital Consumer Trends is based on a nationally representative survey of 4,150 UK people aged 16 to 75 conducted in April 2025. It is part of a global study involving multiple countries.

In this survey, Gen Z refers to respondents aged 16-29, Millennials aged 30-45 and Boomers aged 60-75 years old.