No Country for Young Posters: Social Media Bans Outrun the Evidence
Governments around the world are rushing to address the youth mental health crisis, with social media squarely in their sights. From Capitol Hill to Paris to Sydney, lawmakers are proposing or enacting strict age restrictions that would ban teenagers from creating social media profiles. But are these heavy-handed mandates the right approach?
A recent white paper that I co-authored with Lura Forcum and Julian Morris, published by the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE), suggests these sweeping laws rest on weak evidence, are unlikely to work, and conflict with free speech values. Below, I examine recent attempts to restrict social media access by age in the United States and abroad, and explain why they may face insurmountable legal challenges.