A social media ban for kids is a bad idea

Parents, is this really what you want? (Source: here)

This week, the British government announced its intention to impose a blanket ban on social media access for people younger than 16 years of age.

The proposed ban will include TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, X, Reddit, Facebook, Twitch, Kick, Bluesky, and Threads. Time may tell what criteria the British government intends to use to identify dangerous social media platforms. It is also not yet clear how the British government will handle new platforms, which will surely emerge to meet the colossal demand for social media by the young.

Still, it is already clear that a blanket ban on social media for kids is a bad idea. This particular initiative has all the hallmarks of a knee-jerk reaction to adverse political circumstances by the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, which is never a good basis upon which to define policy. Seen by voters as out of touch, indecisive, bland, and visionless, Starmer is trailing badly in the polls. We are just days away from the Makerfield by-election, which will likely launch Andy Burnham's bid to replace Starmer as Prime Minister.

Starmer's hope is clearly that a social media ban for kids will make him look more decisive and resolute. He is also tapping into the time-honoured strategy of standing up for kids at election time. A social media ban, he hopes, will appeal to hand-wringing parents, who struggle to understand the world of social media and worry about 'losing' their kids to the small screen. This fails, however, to recognise that the young have always been attracted to new technology and the old have always struggled to keep up. In fact, it is natural and healthy for young people to have spaces in which they can distance themselves from their parents to forge identities of their own. It is part of growing up. If we block access to such spaces, we stymie children’s development.

Starmer's proposed ban also misses the point that social media is already an absolutely essential part of young peoples’ lives. It is where they communicate, learn, entertain themselves, meet friends, and access information. A ban on social media would deeply traumatise the young and curtail their growth as individuals and as members of wider society.

There are even more serious problems with Starmer's proposed ban. For one, a ban will likely be unenforceable. Australia banned kids from social media some six months ago, yet 60%-70% of Australian kids have already found their way back onto social media platforms. In other words, the ban has criminalised more than half of all Australian children! A social media ban in Britain would surely criminalise just as many.

An even bigger problem is that a ban could push kids into a dangerous online criminal underworld as they inevitably pursue illegal avenues to obtain access. There is a clear analogy here with existing bans on drugs and sex work, which also push extremely vulnerable people into the arms of serious criminals.

Do we really want that for our kids?

If Starmer genuinely wants to serve the interests of British kids, then he should force providers of social media platforms to make these spaces safe for kids. Social media companies must be made to take responsibility for what kids can see and with whom they can interact on social media platforms. The social media companies must ensure kids don't access dangerous content exactly the same way old school cinemas made sure under-age kids didn't see age-restricted movies. No one back then would ever have dreamt of banning kids from going cinemas altogether, yet this is in effect what the British government is now proposing to do with respect to social media.

It is absurd if you think about it! If there is a flasher in the playground, you don’t ban your kid from playing. Instead, you get rid of the flasher!

The reluctance of Western governments to require social media companies to keep children safe online is part of a wider failure to regulate big tech. Existing anti-trust legislation should be used to a far greater extent to force tech giants to act in the public interest, but this has still not been done, probably for fear of losing political donations and/or upsetting the stock market. Still, this is where politics must go if we want safe online spaces for our kids.

So, instead of banning social media for kids the British government should show real courage and leadership by finally regulating big tech properly. A good place to start would be to get off Elon Musk's Nazi platform 'X'.

The End