Social media use is contributing to a mental health crisis among young Malawians, exposing them to content that promotes suicidal thoughts and self-harm, a government minister has told parliament.
Roza Fatchi Mbilizi, the minister of agriculture, made the remarks on Thursday during a parliamentary debate on a ministerial statement on mental health delivered by the health minister, Madalitso Baloyi. She said prolonged, unstructured use of social media – often described as “endless scrolling” – was having a damaging effect on young people’s wellbeing.
Mbilizi said she had become aware of the scale of the problem through her own children, who showed her how easily young people could access material depicting or encouraging self-harm and suicide, including images and videos. Exposure to such content, she said, may heighten the risk of suicide among some young people.
She was critical of the recommendation systems used by major platforms, saying algorithms were exposing teenagers to what she called “shocking levels” of harmful material on some of the most widely used apps.
Mbilizi stopped short, however, of committing the government to specific measures, such as regulating self-harm and suicide-related content aimed at minors or introducing independent oversight of social media companies operating in the country.
The minister also raised concerns about the spread of cyberbullying, saying it was contributing to poor mental health among adults as well as young people. She said Malawians were increasingly subjected to what she termed “character assassination” online, with those responsible frequently facing no consequences even after causing lasting reputational harm.
“Innocent citizens get shattered over lies,” she told MPs, adding that the psychological toll of such abuse was often underestimated.
Malawi has yet to introduce dedicated legislation governing harmful online content or platform accountability, and campaigners have previously called for clearer safeguards to protect children from exposure to material glorifying self-harm.
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