Australia’s under-16 social media ban puts Europe on alert

After Australia imposed ban on social media for children below 16, likewise countries including France and Britain are considering banning some children and teenagers from social media, but some experts are still locked in a debate over the effectiveness of the move.

Supporters suggest that action needs to be taken against the teenagers amid deteriorating mental health but critics say that the evidence is inconclusive and a more nuanced approach should be taken.  

Australia last month became the first nation to prohibit people under-16s from using immensely popular and profitable social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok and YouTube.

Social media causes mental illness 

France is currently discussing the bill for a similar social media ban under 15 years of age, including one championed by President Emmanuel Macron.

The Guardian reported last week that Jonathan Haidt, an American psychologist and supporter of the Australian ban, had been asked to speak to UK government officials.

Rewires children’s brains  

Haidt argued in his bestselling 2024 book “The Anxious Generation” that too much time looking at screens — particularly social media — was rewiring children’s brains and “causing an epidemic of mental illness”.

There is also plenty of evidence that use of social media does harm to teens, he said, adding that some were demanding an unrealistic level of proof.  

French psychiatrist Serge Tisseron is among those who have long warned about the huge threat that screens pose to health.

“In recent years, the debate has become extremely polarised between an outright ban or nothing at all,” he said, calling for regulation that walks a finer line.

“Within a year, we should know much more about how effective the Australian social media ban has been and whether it led to any unintended consequences,” Cambridge University researcher Amy Orben said.