Social media bans for children — readers split on whether they'd work

Full text

Concerns are on the rise about young people's social media use as governments, parents and schools look to curb children's exposure to threats such as cyberbullying and sexual harassment . Other experts are worried about the rise in misinformation, including misleading medical and health content or the oversimplification of conditions like ADHD .

One proposed solution is to ban children below a certain age from using social media platforms altogether. Last year, Australia put this option into practice, with a world-first law that requires social media platforms to prohibit users under age 16 from having accounts. The U.K. enacted a similar ban that will go into effect in spring 2027, and several U.S. states have established social media bans for minors , though a larger federal ban has not been passed.

In a Live Science poll, we asked our readers whether they thought such a ban would be effective.

More than 150 people voted in our poll, published Aug. 16. As of Aug. 18, the results showed a fairly close split between the top two answers, with 36% of voters picking "No, there's not enough enforcement, and young people will just find other ways to get online," and 29% of voters picking "Yes, I believe that this could help young people's well-being." About 21% of voters leaned against a blanket age ban, picking "No, a ban causes too many unintended harms, and other changes to social media would be more effective."

Related stories

Next-generation AI 'swarms' will invade social media by mimicking human behavior and harassing real users, researchers warn

'A dangerous proposition': How AI is warping the social fabric and the ways we collectively imagine the future

'There's a sense that these algorithms are objective and they get to know you': How social media warps our understanding of healthcare

Readers' comments added more details to their voting choices, with one commenter writing, "They were not created for anyone to ban, if you still think that the old elites (ruling classes) are capable of opposing the new, then you are being disingenuous. You will not be able to ban/defeat anything. Only a more interesting alternative, that's all."

Another commenter said the ban could encourage young people to find workarounds, stating, "Look, we were all kids. How many times were we able to use work arounds to side step some of our parents [sic] rules. If you think these rules are going to stop kids from using social media, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell you."

For others, the logistics of how a ban could be enforced gave some pause. One commenter wrote that they're on the fence. "I'm not sure how such a law could be enforced without methods that require giving out personal information like an ID, which is iffy when it comes [to] security concerns with online sites," they said.