Can social media bans protect young people's mental health? Early research suggests that bans aren't the answer

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The year 2026 has been an expensive one for social media platforms. Since March, YouTube and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, have settled or paid out in multiple lawsuits totaling more than $17 billion for allegedly acting negligently, deliberately designing their platforms to hook kids and misleading the public about safety and privacy.

If these suits are any indication of how states and the public are starting to view social media platforms, more may follow. On top of these lawsuits, social media platforms are facing a loss of business as bans for minors are accelerating and spreading worldwide. Australia was one of the first with a ban on kids under 16 on social media starting in December 2025, followed soon after by the U.K. with a similar prohibition.

The current list of countries looking to ban minors from these platforms includes more than 20, from Greece to the United Arab Emirates to Canada. The proposed and enacted bans around the world vary in terms of age restriction, parental consent rules and age verification methods. Different countries are looking at restricting different platforms, but most include a mix of Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.

These bans aren't necessarily for mental health reasons only—some are motivated by political concerns about foreign-owned platforms, and others aim to protect young people's privacy. But nearly every government banning social media platforms for young people mentions their mental health as a reason. The question is, are these bans the solution to the mental health problems young people are facing?

I research digital media and marketing and measure the impact of new technologies, and I'm skeptical about whether prohibiting access to these platforms will improve young people's mental health. Since Jonathan Haidt's 2024 book "The Anxious Generation," critics of social media have increasingly focused on young people's mental health. Haidt argues that social media disrupts kids' social and neurological development, contributing to rising anxiety and depression through sleep loss, fragmented attention, addiction, loneliness, social comparison and perfectionism.

A 2026 study found that young people between 14 and 20 are more than 100% more likely to experience mental illness than 14- to 20-year-olds 50 years ago. Increased use of social media and screen time is compounding an already precarious time for minors. In 2021, it was estimated that 20.5% of young people experienced elevated symptoms of anxiety, and 25.2% of youth reported elevated symptoms of depression globally.