Banning social media for kids is the right thing to do

Australia leads the effort banning social media for kids

Two children playing with smart devices
Children and teens are even more vulnerable than adults when it comes to addictive use of smartphones and social media. So, is banning social media for kids a prudent solution? [Image source: Tony McNeill from Surbiton, United Kingdom, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons]

Imagine the following scenario. A company markets, promotes, and sells a highly addictive and unhealthy product to kids, without clear consent from parents. Then, when children and teens get addicted to that product—and suffer serious health consequences as a result—the company claims that it’s not to blame. Rather, they say, it’s the responsibility of parents to control each kid’s use of the product.

Does that not sound like a company refusing to take responsibility for a problem that it knowingly caused? Years ago, that was the story of tobacco companies. Today, it’s the story of social media companies.

For this reason, Australia’s new law banning social media for kids under 16 is, in all likelihood, the right thing to do.

Why laws banning social media for kids are on the right track

The argument against laws that ban social media for kids—as well as the claim that social media companies shouldn’t take responsibility for youth getting addicted to their platforms—has at least a couple of problems:

  1. These companies are creating a product that’s addictive by design. Plenty of adults already have enough trouble regulating their use (and abuse) of social media. How on earth could we expect kids to do any better. Which brings us to a related problem …
  2. Children and teens often lack both the life experience and brain development to resist such addictive products. That’s true not just for cigarettes but also for social media. As psychologists like Jonathan Haidt pointed out, kids have years to go until they develop a fully grown prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that helps exert executive control over actions, including the inhibition of impulsive behavior.

Like addictive substances, addictive technologies such as social media require thoughtful regulation and oversight. It’s time to reform these platforms, and laws banning social media for kids are probably a good first step. (Although personally, I think the ban should apply to anyone who’s not yet a legal adult, which is typically age 18, at least in the U.S. and several other nations.)

Well done, Australia, and I hope the rest of the world soon follows suit!

 

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