LSN : Daily Signals : Stat: Widespread parental support fuels UK under-16 social media ban

Smartphone Free Childhood reframes online harms through 1990s nostalgia

Smartphone Free Childhood, UK

UK – Grassroots movement Smartphone Free Childhood (SFC) has launched a campaign film that reframes children’s online harms through the nostalgic lens of a 1990s video rental shop.

Created pro bono by production company Arts & Sciences, the film is set inside a Blockbuster-style store called 24/7 Reels.

When a father asks for recommendations for his children, the shop assistant offers a series of darkly comic fake DVDs referencing the manosphere, misogyny, bullying, pornography and other harmful online behaviours.

By using dark humour and a retro video store setting, the film makes a generational shift visible, contrasting the clearly labelled, adult-mediated media choices of the 1990s with the ambient harms now embedded in social media.

Delve into our Communities report, The Tech-Resisters, to explore how brands can respond to digital fatigue by helping people reclaim time, focus and presence.

Strategic opportunity

How can your brand use familiar formats and culturally legible scenarios to help audiences grasp change and prompt more informed behaviour?

Salomon turns product development into a public exercise

Salomon, Global

China – Salomon has launched the 2026 edition of its Road to the Future programme at its Anfu Road concept store in Shanghai, turning product development into a public-facing design exercise.

Emerging designers are invited to re-interpret silhouettes from the brand’s mountain archive, with the final winner selected through both expert judging and public vote.

Eight designers will rework the ACS Pro and XT-Ridge models, with the winner securing a long-term collaboration with the brand.

Visitors can book in-store appointments to view designs and vote, shifting consumers from end-point buyers to active participants in shaping product outcomes.

The initiative signals a move towards audience-driven design systems that turn heritage product lines into ongoing cultural platforms.

As explored in our Metamorphosis 2026: Fashion as Living System report, fashion brands have an opportunity to position themselves as hubs for ongoing knowledge exchange between designers, labels, companies and universities.

Strategic opportunity

Turn your brand’s archives into an open innovation platform for external creators, fostering continuous co-creation and strengthening community and participation

Stat: Widespread parental support fuels UK under-16 social media ban

UK – The UK government has announced a ban on social media for under-16s, set for early 2027, alongside proposals for an overnight curfew and limits on infinite scrolling for under-18s.

Public sentiment is strongly supportive: 77% of parents back the ban, while 82% believe social media negatively affects children and 38% say it has harmed their own child, according to a YouGov survey of 2,102 British adults.

Despite this, only 45% expect a ban to be effective, with 73% of parents saying online safety is difficult to manage. More than three-quarters (88%) want social media companies to do more, 76% expect greater government action and 76% say parents in general should step up. But just 33% feel they personally need to do more, revealing a collective action gap where accountability is broadly endorsed but individually displaced.

The new legislation and survey reflect insights from our proprietary Future:Poll data on Tech Resistance, which revealed a growing demand for greater control over technology use as consumers express increasing concern about their digital habits globally. For more on how parents are introducing controls on their children’s tech usage, read our Teens, Tech and Tapping Out report.

Strategic opportunity

Design offline experiences for teens that build social connection, autonomy and identity through real-world activities, replacing screen time with structured, meaningful things to do