Banning social media for young people
Is it a realistic solution?
On November 28 2025 under 16s will be banned from social media in Australia. Banning under 16s is not the best solution; as a short-term measure that makes Big Tech gatekeepers sit up and take notice, it could make a difference, especially if other countries follow suit.
That would allow time to develop a more coordinated and systemic solution, ideally globally, at least regionally. Why is that needed?
Firstly, there are few, if any, specific large-scale studies as evidence to back-up the claim the young people are more vulnerable to social media than other age groups.
To say social media can cause associated mental health problems and children are more vulnerable, sounds logical. Even so, in the absence of appropriate research, there's nothing specific or nuanced to guide policy-makers. A growing number of institutions are questioning this and petitioning for proper analyses.
The American Psychological Association (APA) reported in 2023 that social media โ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ณ๐๐น ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒโ. On the other hand, a study by the Alan Turing Institute in the UK found that nearly ๐ต๐ฌ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ด-๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ'๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ณ๐๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ.
In 2017, a New York hospital found that ๐ต๐ณ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ. In 2023, the Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders said that ๐ณ๐ฑ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ.
In summary, a patchwork of contradictory data, and this is just four data points of many.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐น๐ด๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ต๐บ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐๐๐-๐ผ๐ณ-๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.
Guided by proper evidentiary studies, ideally globally coordinated, recognizing there will be fierce, politicised resistance, because the internet has already pushed large parts of society beyond facts. That would take years. In the interim, regulation and bans might be the only recourse, but without proper evidence they could backfire, badly.
ยฉ 2025 Oliver Spalding. All rights reserved. HITMXEยฎ is a registered trademark of Oliver Spalding.
This post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution. You may share this content with attribution, but not modify or use it commercially without written permission.