Parents the world over know the dilemma. Social media networks are a pivot around which their teenage children’s lives revolve — where they hang out with friends, nurture relationships, share what they are doing and find out much about current events. Yet research has suggested a link between social media apps and anxiety, depression, and sleeping and eating disorders among young people. They can be a source of harmful material on body image, or of misogynistic content, or forums for bullying. Is the answer to ban their use by vulnerable minds?
Australia’s government thinks so. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is rushing through a ban on under-16s having accounts with platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and Snapchat, in what it calls a world first. Tech companies would be obliged to take reasonable steps to ensure under-age children could not use their services — with penalties of up to A$50mn ($32.5mn) for “systemic” breaches — though children and parents would not be penalised. Albanese says the ban aims to protect mental health, likening it to curbs on underage drinking: worth doing even if some teens circumvent it.
More than a dozen other countries including Austria, Germany, Italy and South Korea are moving towards minimum age limits for social media, often 15, with varying degrees of enforcement. Norway is raising an existing threshold from 13 to 15. The UK government is reportedly weighing up backing a private members’ bill on the issue. About 10 US states have passed laws restricting children’s access to social platforms, though some are being challenged in court.