Media Contact
The Australian government will be introducing world-leading legislation this month that would ban anyone under 16 from using social media. Should it pass, the law would also do away with exemptions for those who have parental consent, and would hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance.
Kimberly Kopko
Associate Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension
Kimberly Kopko, a Cornell University expert on child development and parenting and the Director of The Parenting Project, cautions that while the harms of social media are known, the effectiveness of bans is not, and that more research is needed.
Kopko says:
“Although there may be some positive aspects to social media use, research leans to the detrimental effects of social media on children and youth. Data, along with two Surgeon General Advisories—one on Social Media and Youth Mental Health and one on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents, highlight growing evidence that social media is harmful to youth mental health and that parents face tremendous pressures from navigating children’s technology and social media use.
“The detrimental impacts of social media use are better known than the effects of bans, and limited bans—such as the potential ban on mobile phone use in schools proposed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul—may present a compromise by decreasing youth social media use while allowing time to collect data on the impacts of the ban.
“Ideally, any policy implementation, but especially sweeping legislation, should be based on child development principles, high-quality research, and feedback from those being affected. The more pressing focus may be on holding social media companies accountable and ensuring compliance, as proposed.”
