LCQ7: Concern about adolescents' addiction to the Internet
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Question:
There are views pointing out that with the popularity of social media and online platforms, the psychological and mental health issues of children and adolescents in Hong Kong arising from cyberbullying and excessive addiction to the Internet have drawn increasing concern. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of new cases recorded, cumulative number of persons waiting and average waiting times for the child and adolescent psychiatric services under the Hospital Authority (HA) in each of the past five years; among these cases, of the numbers of cases involving depression, anxiety disorders or self-harm risks caused by cyberbullying or Internet addiction, as well as the year-on-year increases; how the Government assesses the seriousness of the aforementioned situation;
(2) as the Student Health Service Annual Health Report for 2024/25 School Year published by the Department of Health in March this year pointed out that in the 2024-2025 school year, 2.1 per cent of students reported having been bullied online in the past 12 months, how the Government assesses the correlation or causal relationship between the use of social media and the negative impacts on the emotional health of children and adolescents;
(3) given that the World Health Organization has regarded cyberbullying as an important social problem, whether the Government has set up dedicated multidisciplinary medical teams (including psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers and school counselling personnel) to provide support for children and adolescents with Internet addiction or trauma from cyberbullying; if so, of the respective numbers of cases referred, assessed and treated under this mechanism, the service coverage rates and the average time taken for handling cases in each of the past five years; if not, the reasons for that;
(4) whether the Government or HA has provided frontline healthcare personnel with specialised clinical guidelines, assessment tools and continuing professional training for identifying and diagnosing social anxiety and mental distress among adolescents caused by Internet addiction; if so, of the scope and frequency of such training; if not, the reasons for that;
(5) whether, in promoting public mental health education over the past five years, the Government has formulated dedicated public education and publicity strategies targeting "prevention of Internet addiction among children and adolescents" and "coping with trauma from cyberbullying"; if so, of the contents and partners of the relevant publicity projects, and the number of times they were organised; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6) to safeguard the well-being of children and adolescents, whether the Government will formulate a long-term cross-departmental plan to prevent the mental health of adolescents from being affected by their addiction to the use of the Internet; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
In consultation with the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, Education Bureau (EDB), the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB), the Security Bureau, the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Department of Health (DH) and the Hospital Authority (HA), my reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Judy Chan is as follows:
(2) The health impacts of screen and social media use depend on a combination of factors, including user characteristics, duration of use, type of content, and usage context. Nowadays, young people use digital screens and social media for learning, communication and socialising. Some academic studies have indicated that moderate use of social media can help foster social connections and well-being amongst young people. If social media is used appropriately, it may offer opportunities to enhance digital literacy and promote well-rounded development. However, some local and studies from other regions have also highlighted that the inappropriate use of the internet and social media may expose young people to risks such as privacy intrusion, cybersecurity, online scam and crime, child sexual exploitation, exposure to misinformation or disinformation, and the influence of radical or hate speech. The impact on young people's development has gone beyond the realm of mere public health or personal well-being.
Given the complex and multifaceted nature of this issue, safeguarding the online safety of children and young people requires a shared commitment and collaborative efforts across different professional disciplines. Government bureaux and departments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community partners have consistently worked together, adopting a multipronged approach to safeguard the younger generation from potential harm arising from the use of the Internet and social media, whilst taking into account various policy considerations within the ever-evolving digital landscape.
The Government has studied the use of social media by children and young people, and the associated impacts through statistical surveys and by referring to relevant reports from NGOs. According to the Thematic Household Survey conducted by the Census and Statistics Department, adolescents aged 10 to 14 spent an average of 13.8 hours per week on online social activities in 2024, representing an increase from 8.6 hours per week in 2014. A similar increase was observed in the 15 to 24 age group, with weekly usage rising from 14.0 hours in 2014 to 20.6 hours in 2024. The DH released the "Student Health Service (SHS) Annual Health Report for 2024/25 School Year" in March this year. The health assessment questionnaire (Note 1) revealed that 2.1 per cent of students reported experiencing cyberbullying within the past 12 months during the 2024/25 academic year, representing a slight decrease from 3.0 per cent recorded in the 2023/24 academic year. A local survey conducted in 2020 found that students who used social media for three hours or more per day exhibited significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress compared to those who used social media for less than three hours per day.
(3) and (4) In response to the above situation, to protect children and young people from potential harm arising from using the internet and social media, various Government bureaux and departments, NGOs and community partners have taken a series of measures to strengthen relevant services and referrals, as well as public education (as detailed in Part (5) of the reply below). Our strategy is to identify and intervene in potential cases at an early stage through cross-sectoral collaboration, thereby minimising the likelihood of them developing into more complex social, family, health and safety issues. The individual cases mentioned in the question, where mental health problems require medical intervention, are already serious; treatment or rehabilitation is more difficult, and the social and personal costs are higher. Therefore, adopting a strategy of early identification and intervention is of paramount importance.
The EDB has all along been providing comprehensive student counselling and support services in schools through the Whole School Approach and multidisciplinary collaboration. Schools are staffed with professionals from different disciplines, including student counselling personnel, school social workers and school-based educational psychologists. Teachers work closely with the school's specialist team to identify at an early stage and support students in need (including those who are addicted to the Internet or affected by cyberbullying). Besides, the EDB provides the "Information Literacy for Hong Kong Students" Learning Framework and relevant learning and teaching resources for schools. Schools are also encouraged to appropriately incorporate programmes with themes such as "Internet addiction" and "prevention of internet pitfalls" or organise relevant activities. Meanwhile, the EDB also published the Curriculum Framework on Parent Education where promoting the healthy, happy, and balanced development of children or adolescents is one of the key areas. Parents are also encouraged to establish reasonable rules regarding social media and screen time taking into account their children's ages and developmental needs, and to work in conjunction with school policies to jointly mitigate related risks.
The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has been providing young people with a range of preventive, developmental and remedial services to help them build up positive values and prevent them from having delinquent behaviours including Internet addiction, during their developmental stage. The services concerned include the "two school social workers for each school" measure implemented in all secondary schools over the territory, and subvented 139 Integrated Children and Youth Services Centres to offer appropriate support and counselling to students or adolescents in need, such as guiding them to use the Internet properly. In addition, in December 2018, the SWD established five Cyber Youth Support Teams to proactively search for and engage with young people through online platforms they frequently use, and to provide timely intervention, support and counselling services to those in need, thereby reducing the likelihood of them becoming cyberbullies or victims of cyberbullying.
Regarding the regulation of obscene or indecent content on the Internet, given the vast volume and rapidly changing nature of online information, the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) has been working with the industry to jointly regulate and handle complaints regarding the online publication of obscene or indecent materials, and also proactively monitors content on online platforms. If content deemed obscene or indecent is discovered, the OFNAA will require the relevant platform to add a warning message or to delete, block, or completely obscure the concerned content. In addition, the OFNAA actively promotes wide range of public education and awareness campaigns, collaborating with various stakeholders to enhance public awareness, particularly among children and adolescents, of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, encouraging them to stay away from harmful information, and foster a proper understanding of healthy Internet use.
The DH issued updated health recommendations for children and adolescents in 2018 based on the Report of Advisory Group on Health Effects of Use of Internet and Electronic Screen Products. The SHS Centre of the DH has also been providing free annual health assessments for primary and secondary school students all along, including growth monitoring, screening for vision and hearing, and health assessment questionnaire. If students are found to have health, psychological, mental or behavioural issues, such as excessive screen use, healthcare professionals will provide health counselling and relevant information (such as support services and an overview of information regarding online behaviour). They will also refer cases where mental health concerns are suspected and psychological or medical follow-up is required to clinical psychologists at the SHS, specialist clinics under the HA, or other organisations for further follow-up. In the 2024/25 academic year, approximately 1.0 per cent (Note 2) of students who utilised the SHS were referred to clinical psychologists at the SHS, specialist clinics under the HA, or other organisations for further follow-up due to psychological and behavioural issues.
The multidisciplinary professional teams of the HA's child and adolescent psychiatric service, involving doctors, clinical psychologists, nurses, speech therapists, occupational therapists and medical social workers, provide early identification, assessment and treatment services for children and adolescents suspected of having mental health problems requiring medical intervention. The doctors establish diagnoses through clinical assessments and based on international diagnostic criteria. The multidisciplinary professional teams also provide patients with comprehensive and continuous psychiatric assessments through various methods, including integrated clinical interviews, evidence-based assessment tools, and observations. Based on the patient's clinical condition, complexity of the illness, needs and associated risks, the professional teams set individualised goals and draw up recovery plans, and provide appropriate psychiatric services and support, encompassing inpatient, specialist outpatient (SOP), day rehabilitation training, and community support services, with a view to enhancing patients' speech and communication, social skills, emotion management, problem-solving, learning and life skills. The medical teams also provide the parents and carers of the concerned children and adolescents with knowledge about the diseases in order to enhance their understanding of the symptoms and treatment needs of the patients.
There has long been a well-established referral mechanism between government departments and NGOs in various sectors. The EDB provides schools with additional resources and professional support; schools, in turn, have dedicated professional teams to provide the necessary support and referral services to students in need (including those addicted to the Internet or affected by cyberbullying). Over the past five academic years, schools have handled an average of approximately 440 cases per year involving school bullying (including cyberbullying).
(1) Under the abovementioned referral mechanism, individuals whose conditions are severe enough to cause mental health problems requiring medical intervention will receive services at the HA. The HA psychiatric specialist outpatient clinics (SOPCs) implemented the new case triage system to ensure that patients with urgent conditions requiring early diagnosis and treatment receive priority follow-up and treatment. New referrals are typically screened by nurses first and reviewed by the relevant specialists before cases are being classified as Priority 1 (urgent), Priority 2 (semi-urgent), and Routine (stable) cases. In general, psychiatric SOPCs will classify patients with urgent medical needs as Priority 1 (urgent) cases for follow-up. Patients may return to their respective psychiatric SOPCs to receive assessment again if their mental conditions have changed during the waiting time, so that an assessment could be made as to whether there is a need to advance their consultation, or they may consider seeking treatment from the accident and emergency services.
From 2021-22 to 2025-26, the number of new cases and their respective median waiting time in the HA for child and adolescent psychiatric SOP service are tabulated below (Note 3 and 4):
| Year | Priority 1 | Priority 2 | Routine | |||
| Number of new cases | Median waiting time (week(s)) | Number of new cases | Median waiting time (week(s)) | Number of new cases | Median waiting time (week(s)) | |
| 2021-22 | 313 | 1 | 952 | 3 | 12 245 | 79 |
| 2022-23 | 206 | 1 | 959 | 3 | 13 089 | 73 |
| 2023-24 | 190 | 1 | 1 107 | 2 | 13 078 | 77 |
| 2024-25 | 173 | <1 | 1 082 | 2 | 13 607 | 77 |
| 2025-26 | 130 | <1 | 1 033 | 2 | 13 624 | 70 |
Based on the reply above, the factors and impacts of social media are manifold. The development of depression, anxiety, or self-harm behaviours among children and adolescents can be attributed to multiple factors, making it difficult to identify a single cause. Cyberbullying or excessive Internet use may be among the contributing factors. The HA does not maintain statistics on the number of psychiatric patients suffering from conditions such as depression or anxiety that are induced by cyberbullying or Internet addiction.
(5) In addition to parts (3) and (4) of the reply regarding identification, intervention, treatment, and rehabilitation services, the Government attaches great importance to promoting public mental health education, examples of public education and outreach efforts regarding the prevention of Internet addiction among children and adolescents and the coping with cyberbullying trauma are as follows:
The EDB, the Committee on Home-School Co-operation and the Hong Kong Education City jointly organise a series of parent seminars every year, such as parenting for the e-Generation, youth online culture, online risks and tips for handling Internet addiction of children. The EDB also disseminates important messages in a timely manner to support the physical and psychological development of students, contents include helping children use electronic devices properly, preventing children from falling into online pitfalls and handling Internet addiction of children through the Smart Parent Net one-stop parent education website (parent.edu.hk) and its social media platforms for parents' reference. The EDB has also commissioned NGOs to provide telephone hotlines to offer individual support to teachers, students and parents in need.
The SWD has launched the Pilot Programme on Training for Mental Health Promotion Ambassador in October 2026 and aims to recruit 5 000 ambassadors from all ages and backgrounds. After receiving 50 hours of training (including training in digital mastery), practical activities and internship, the ambassadors will help promote healthy lifestyles, foster resilience and establish care support networks in the community.
The GovHK features a dedicated webpage on Points to Note for Internet Social Networking, which outlines the risks associated with using social networking platforms and the relevant precautionary measures. The webpage also provides advice for parents on helping their children develop healthy Internet usage habits, including working out a reasonable timetable for online activities with their children to prevent addictive Internet use. If parents discover that their children encounter cyberbullying, they are advised to encourage their children to seek help, and contact their children's school and consider reporting the matter to the Police for assistance.
The Digital Policy Office (DPO) also provides information on information security and safe use of the Internet through its one-stop information security portal, InfoSec (www.infosec.gov.hk), which provides reference materials for adolescents and students, as well as parents and teachers, covering cyber ethics, and the safe use of social networking platforms and instant messaging applications, to help them understand online risks and relevant precautionary measures.
The DH is committed to promoting healthy lifestyle and mental health. It provides practical health information to children, adolescents, and parents through various media and channels, including websites, short videos and infographics, in an interesting way. These include the "Emotional Health Tips" and the YouthCan website specifically designed for the youth, covering topics such as "Cyber Health", "Stop Bullying", and "Addictive Behaviours". The DH will continue promotion of healthy lifestyle, mental health and healthy use of the Internet and electronic screen products among students and parents. Health tips and advice are disseminated through different media and channels. They are available at the SHS website.
In September 2023 and March 2026, "Shall We Talk" launched bilingual articles and infographics covering topics such as "Cyberbullying and Prevention of Adolescent Suicide", "Social Media and Happiness" and "Making Good Use of Social Media to Safeguard Our Mental Health". Combined with traditional media (newspapers and radio) and social media, these educational materials aimed to promote relevant mental health messages to the public. As changes in the social environment and daily habits have led to increased screen time and Internet usage among children, "Shall We Talk" launched a primary school drama tour running from April to December 2026 across Hong Kong. The tour promotes the healthy and proper use of screens and the Internet, while encouraging children to share their concerns or feelings with trusted people and seek help when necessary. As of September 2026, the programme has reached 26 primary schools.
The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) has been committed to addressing the risks associated with the use of electronic screens and social media, with a view to better protecting children from cyber harm. The HKPF implements targeted preventive and educational initiatives in a proactive and collaborative approach. The HKPF has set up relevant online platforms, including the "One-stop Child Protection Online Platform" (ChildProtection.gov.hk), which provides comprehensive online resources for children, youth, parents and teachers to help them identify cyber pitfalls and related crimes, and enhance their cybersecurity awareness and self-protection ability. Apart from online platforms, the HKPF also provides physical education resources, such as the publication "Decoding Traps: A Guide for Teachers and Parents" and the "Letters to Parents" series. Through real life cases, these materials offer parents and teachers practical guidelines and toolkits for addressing cyber risks faced by children and youth. Meanwhile, the HKPF also actively organises school talks and multidisciplinary seminars to strengthen collaboration among families, schools and NGOs, to jointly build a safe digital environment for children and youth.
(6) The Government is deeply concerned about the potential impact of electronic screen and social media use on the physical and mental development of children and adolescents. In response to concerns raised by the Government and the community regarding the health effects of electronic screen use and social media among children and young people, the interdepartmental Advisory Group on Health Effects of Screen and Social Media Use for Children and Adolescents (Advisory Group) was established in October 2025. Its members include representatives from the DH, the EDB, the SWD, the DPO, the Primary Healthcare Commission, as well as the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and NGOs. The Advisory Group is tasked with reviewing the latest medical and scientific evidence, relevant developments and experiences in other regions, and synthesising the views of experts and stakeholders, with the aim of releasing updated health recommendations in 2026. As announced in the 2026 Policy Address, a dedicated task force on minors' use of social media will be established under the Interdepartmental Working Group to Review Legislation to Support Wider Application of AI spearheaded by the DoJ. It will co-ordinate with relevant bureaux/departments to review the risks associated with the use of social media by minors (including interaction with AI), and assess the need for more targeted solutions, including legislative and administrative measures.
Note 1: Students in primary 4 and 6, secondary 2, 4 and 6 complete the health assessment questionnaire themselves.
Note 2: The current data from the SHS Centre of the DH only covers the number of students referred due to psychological and behavioural issues; it does not provide a breakdown by specific reasons for referral (such as Internet addiction or trauma resulting from cyberbullying).
Note 3: With effect from October 1, 2022, the waiting time for new case booking is calculated from the date the booking application is submitted to the scheduled appointment date at SOPC or integrated clinic (whichever is earlier).
Note 4: In view of the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak in Hong Kong in early 2020, the HA has adjusted its services to cope with the outbreak. Therefore, the above situation should also be taken into account when comparing the HA's service volume across the relevant years. With the subsiding of Hong Kong's COVID-19 epidemic situation and cessation of anti-epidemic measures in early 2023, the HA has been gradually resuming provision of all of its public healthcare services to tie in with the Government's normalcy measures.
Ends/Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Issued at HKT 18:52
Issued at HKT 18:52
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