Post #399863 · Elektrine

2026-02-18 01:16 UTC

We’ve been covering Australia’s monumentally stupid social media ban for kids under 16 since before it went into effect. We noted how dumb the whole premise was, how the rollout was an immediate mess, how a gambling ad agency helped push the whole thing, and how two massive studies involving 125,000 kids found the entire “social media is inherently harmful” narrative doesn’t hold up. But theory and data are one thing. Now we’re getting real-world stories of actual kids being harmed by a law that was supposedly designed to protect them. And wouldn’t you know it, the harm is falling hardest on the kids who were already most vulnerable. Just like many people predicted. If you thought this was a good idea you are part of the harm against these kids, wake the fuck up and use your brain, this is a moral panic, you are hardly different than villagers yelling for a witch to be burned at the stake and you should feel ashamed of your stupidity. Do better fediverse and if you are one of those people who casually waxes lyrical about denying kids access to the tools you use everyday because you honestly believe letting young people on social media is equivalent to giving them physically addictive drugs and that this place should have young people restricted from it because it is fundamentally unhealthy, please leave. You bring this place down and you undermine any sense of optimism about digital communities that motivates the rest of us to be here. “The current research does not support the usefulness of banning kids from social media. Research studies do not suggest there is a correlation between time spent on social media and youth mental health. Further, reducing social media time does not improve mental health. This ban is likely to be a waste of time and resources. Further, it prevents opportunities to teach kids how to use social media responsibly. Like most moral panics, these kinds of efforts do harm in distracting us from real sources of youth mental health problems, mainly families in distress and failing schools. We have to remember we’ve been through this all before many times from video games, to rock and roll, books to the radio. These panics over media and technology never do anything to help kids.” … “Perhaps because of that balance and because many other factors are known to have a much larger impact on childhood, current evidence suggests very small effects at a population level when it comes to associations between social media/smartphone use on wellbeing e.g., McCrae et al., 2017; Vahedi & Zannella, 2021; Yoon et al.,2019). Note that not all the above reviews involve children. Also, that these are all reporting associations, not cause and effect. “When it comes to the general use of social media and smartphones, the effects on mood or wellbeing are so small ‘that they require implausibly large behavioral changes to produce even minor mood shifts.’ (Winbush et al., 2025; p6) sciencemediacentre.org/expert-comments-on-evidenc… news.ucsb.edu/…/brain-science-social-media-and-mo… theguardian.com/…/social-media-time-does-not-incr… …lse.ac.uk/…/social-media-age-bans-toxic-business… ox.ac.uk/…/2026-01-23-expert-comment-under-16-soc… aap.org/…/the-good-and-bad-of-social-media-what-r… businessinsider.com/kids-parenting-social-media-b… cacbrevard.org/should-teens-be-banned-from-social… publications.ieu.asn.au/ie-220/…/help-or-harm?coo… medium.com/…/banning-social-media-for-teens-is-da… theconversation.com/i-research-the-harm-that-can-… …edu.au/…/australia-social-media-ban-under-16s thebureauinvestigates.com/…/a-social-media-ban-fo… jezebel.com/social-media-bans-teens-europe-uk-spa… thedrum.com/…/social-media-regulation-is-being-sh…

Replies (8)

@osanna@thebrainbin.org 2026-02-18 03:05

I said this would happen, and got downvoted.

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@Korkki@lemmy.ml 2026-02-18 01:46

The real issue is that most social media is for-profit addiction machine breeding more and more anti-social behavior, not that kids have access to it. This is just a another example that liberals are incapable of seeing any ill in rampant capitalism or much less intervene in it's mechanism for the common good. Everything is framed around profit seeking bringing out the greatest good and individuals choice. They are very at a loss when having to to do any systemic analysis why social-media has ill effects on social fabric. The best they can come up is that kids are not yet fully formed adults able to do the right choice, so they must be guided.

Open ##1257551
@FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 2026-02-18 01:27

Seeing as how the linked article is an editorial, I took a look at the link from the Guardian. And it's all people saying how it's more difficult to talk to their friends now. But how? You still have a phone that dials numbers. Your parents, presumably, have the ability to access social media and obtain any numbers you need if you inadvertently failed to do so. You have email. And it's free. The last line reiterates how, while this is ultimately a parental failing, the parental failing has been so astronomical and the harm to kids' cognitive abilities and mental stability so profound that regulation is essential. ***I look forward to the day when social media use is banned globally for all underage people, and if you need more information as to why, go speak to any schoolteacher in America who can't get their students to pay attention for more than 60 seconds, or who can't retain information that is literally written on the board in front of them. And it's getting worse because most parents just park their kid in front of a screen all day.*** Like recycling, this is a problem that cannot be solved by expecting individuals to act. Government regulation of social media platforms is necessary.

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@Akh@lemmy.world 2026-02-18 01:22

Seems like something easy to fix considering the massive damage social media has been doing

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@BilboBargains@lemmy.world 2026-02-18 11:08

I want to ban everything conservatives and corporations love. All drugs legal except alcohol, ban billionaires, ban lobbying, keep doing that until their heads explode. We know that social media is designed to be addictive and needs to be regulated the same way any addictive or dangerous substance or activity should be. Harm reduction and education is the best way in general.

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@Fizz@lemmy.nz 2026-02-18 02:44

This whole article seems fishy. >While some young people were exposed to harmful content and bullying online, for Indy, social media was always a safe space. If she ever came across anything that felt unsafe, she says, she would ask her parents or sisters about it. If thats the case why dont her parents just use their I'd to verify an account for her? Also it only blocked a few platforms and there are still plenty of ways to communicate with friends.

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@ianhclark510@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2026-02-18 01:46

Who could have possibly guessed that cutting kids off from means of communication would have negative consequences?

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@pycorax@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-19 03:36

I may agree with your point but you need to be a lot nicer with how you word your message. Stop insulting the people trying to read your post and calm the hell down. The fediverse isn't your dumping ground for rage and abuse. Nor is anyone here obligated to respond to your vitriol. It only serves to hurt whatever you're trying to convey.

Open ##1257578