‘It felt hypocritical’: child internet safety campaign accused of censoring teenagers’ speeches

The teenagers in their speeches had referred to social media as ‘one of the worst psychological addictions in history’ and an ‘imminent threat to our future’. Photograph: Daniel de la Hoz/Getty Images

An internet safety campaign backed by US tech companies has been accused of censoring two teenagers they invited to speak out about the biggest issues facing children online.

Childnet, a UK charity part-funded by companies including Snap, Roblox and Meta, edited out warnings from Lewis Swire and Saamya Ghai that social media addiction was an “imminent threat to our future” and obsessive scrolling was making people “sick”, according to a record of edits seen by the Guardian.