False Assumption Registry

Social Media Safe for Adolescents

False Assumption: Social media is a reasonably safe consumer product for children and adolescents even when used heavily.

Written by FARAgent on February 09, 2026

In the early 2010s, as smartphones and platforms like Instagram and Facebook exploded into ubiquity, a comforting narrative took root among tech executives, policymakers, and many social scientists: social media was essentially harmless for kids, even in heavy doses, much like any other consumer product. Proponents, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who as recently as 2024 testified before the Senate that his apps posed no unique risks, leaned on arguments that correlations between screen time and teen depression were mere coincidences, not causation. Studies like those from Hancock et al. in 2022 and Ferguson in 2024 bolstered this view by downplaying associations as trivial, while dismissing early alarms as overblown moral panic; after all, who could fault a tool that connected the world?

Yet voices like psychologist Jean Twenge, whose 2017 Atlantic article flagged a sharp rise in adolescent anxiety coinciding with social media's ascent, began chipping away at this optimism, joined by whistleblower Frances Haugen's leaks of internal Meta documents and Jonathan Haidt's analyses highlighting puberty's brain plasticity as a vulnerability to addictive algorithms. The fallout was stark: millions faced cyberbullying, sextortion, and exposure to harmful content, while adolescent mental health metrics cratered post-2010, with depression rates soaring; even Meta's own experiments showed deactivating accounts reduced depressive symptoms.

Increasingly, this once-confident assumption is recognized as flawed, with growing evidence from global studies and personal testimonies suggesting profound risks during youth's formative years. Countries like Australia, Sweden, and the UK are now enacting age restrictions and regulations, reflecting a shift toward caution, though the debate persists amid tech industry pushback and calls for more rigorous causation research.

Status: Growing recognition that this assumption was false, but not yet mainstream
People Involved
  • In 2017, psychologist and author Jean Twenge published an article in The Atlantic linking smartphone and social media adoption to rising adolescent mental health issues. She concluded that much of the decline stemmed from these technologies. [1] Social scientists, acting in good faith, dismissed such claims by insisting correlation did not prove causation. [1]
  • Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, echoed this in his 2024 Senate testimony, denying causation despite internal research showing otherwise. [1]
  • Former Meta employee Frances Haugen leaked documents in 2021 revealing the company's awareness of harms. [1]
  • Psychologist Jonathan Haidt highlighted puberty's vulnerability to social media in a chapter of his book The Anxious Generation. [2]
  • In March 2024, Jon Haidt published the book, sparking policy changes by 2025. [3] Snap's director of security engineering tolerated a system enabling child abuse and drug sales for a decade. [3]
  • Professor Sarah Coyne at Brigham Young University gathered data on parental guilt over media use. [4]
  • California mother Talita Pruett set screen limits but struggled with guilt. [4]
  • Jon Haidt praised Australia's policy shift while warning of harms. [6]
  • Australian politician Andrew Leigh supported the new restrictions. [6]
  • Since 2015, Jon Haidt has cautioned about smartphones' effects on Gen Z. [7]
  • Mark Zuckerberg promoted AI companions allowing sensual talks with children. [7]
  • Gay Longworth later regretted giving her daughter a smartphone without safeguards. [8]
  • A police officer identified Roxy Longworth as a sextortion victim and noted shame's dangers. [8]
  • Sweden's then-Minister of Schools Lotta Edholm called school digitalization an unscientific experiment. [9]
  • Then-Minister of Education Johan Pehrson pushed for books over screens. [9]
  • Tech entrepreneur Sara Wimmercranz restricted her children's screens. [9]
  • Filmmaker Beeban Kidron, a House of Lords member, produced a 2013 documentary on online harms and helped craft UK laws. [10]
  • Tristan Harris of the Center for Humane Technology connected her with Jon Haidt in 2019. [10]
▶ Supporting Quotes (20)
“That’s when Jean Twenge suggested an answer to both questions in her provocative article in The Atlantic: “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” In it, she showed a historical correlation: adolescent behavior changed and their mental health collapsed just at the point in time when they traded in their flip phones for smartphones with always-available social media. She also showed a correlation relevant to the product safety question: The kids who spend the most time on screens (especially for social media) are the ones with the worst mental health. She concluded that “it’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen [Gen Z] as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.””— Mountains of Evidence
“Twenge’s work was met with strong criticism from some social scientists whose main objection was that correlation does not prove causation (for both the historical correlation, and the product safety correlation).”— Mountains of Evidence
“Mark Zuckerberg used the argument himself in his 2024 testimony before the U.S. Senate. Under questioning by Senator Jon Osoff, he granted that the use of social media correlates with poor mental health but asserted that “there’s a difference between correlation and causation.””— Mountains of Evidence
“Some of this information had been available to the general public since 2021, when whistleblower Frances Haugen brought out thousands of screenshots of presentations and emails from her time working at Meta.”— Mountains of Evidence
“I devoted an entire chapter of The Anxious Generation to puberty because it is such a crucial period of brain re-wiring and identity formation.”— Why Every Country Should Set 16 (or Higher) as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts
“When The Anxious Generation came out in March 2024, we expected that many parents would read it, but we had no idea how quickly the world was going to change.”— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“As Snap’s director of security engineering said regarding Android users who are selling drugs or child sexual abuse material on Snap: 'That’s fine it’s been broken for ten years we can tolerate tonight.'”— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“New data from the United States collected by one of us (Coyne) in a paper currently under review shows that about half of parents feel guilty about the amount of time their children spend on media.”— How Tech Companies Rig Parental Guilt
“Talita Pruett, a California mom of three children ages 14, 13, and 5, is doing everything she can to be a present, involved parent. But one issue weighs on her more than anything else: guilt over media.”— How Tech Companies Rig Parental Guilt
“Australia has just taken one of the most important steps yet in the global effort to protect children online.”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
“Australia’s social media age minimum will reduce the online harms that are affecting young people.”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
“As a social psychologist who has been trying since 2015 to figure out what on earth was happening to Gen Z, I was stunned. Why? Because what the AI proposed doing is pretty much what technology seems to be doing to children today.”— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“As Mark Zuckerberg explained, the average American has fewer than three friends, but wants 15. Meta’s AI companions will fill that gap! And it’s not just for friends. Meta’s AIs were specifically permitted to engage in “sensual conversations” with children, according to a leaked internal policy memo that was approved by Meta’s full leadership.”— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“I wish, how I deeply wish, I had said the same about her online world. But as far as that was concerned it was just a long list of “don’t”s.”— Growing up Online Nearly Killed Me
“While the search continued, a policeman explained why reporting “sextortion” is so important. She was the victim, not the perpetrator, and it was vital she understood that so she didn’t internalise the shame. He left me with no doubt that shame kills.”— Growing up Online Nearly Killed Me
“The first signs of a reversal came in late 2022, when then-Minister of Schools Lotta Edholm called the digitalization of Swedish schools “an experiment” that wasn’t scientifically based and that harmed children’s learning.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
““We’re reintroducing books, pencils, and paper as the default tools for learning in the classroom,” said then-Minister of Education, Johan Pehrson during an online summit on ed-tech.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“Prominent influencers, such as tech entrepreneur and investor Sara Wimmercranz, have helped change the conversation around screens as well.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“It was her 2013 documentary film InRealLife that opened her eyes to what was happening to teens growing up online. In response, she founded the 5Rights Foundation, a charity named after a series of fundamental rights that children should be entitled to in the digital world.”— The UK Is Doing the Hard Work of Protecting Children Online
“In December 2019, Tristan Harris (of the Center for Humane Technology) sent me an email introducing me to Beeban Kidron. He said she is “leading the charge on UK tech policy for kids’ use and ‘Duty of Care.’"”— The UK Is Doing the Hard Work of Protecting Children Online
Organizations Involved
Meta conducted 31 internal studies from 2018 to 2024 showing harms to teens but concealed them until leaks and lawsuits exposed the truth. [1] Social scientists as a group reinforced doubt by repeatedly citing correlation over causation since 2017. [1] Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube allowed adolescent access while resisting protections. [2] TikTok ignored internal reports of harms to prioritize engagement. [3] Snapchat tolerated ineffective age verification and rampant exploitation. [3] Snap profited from a flawed system enabling abuse. [3] EA pushed addictive features in games like FIFA despite risks. [3] Social media firms earned $11 billion in 2022 from child ads while hindering controls. [4] Tech companies offered poor parental tools that burdened families. [4] Giants opposed regulations with spending. [5] Platforms designed addictive products without age checks. [6] They shifted verification burdens elsewhere. [6] Meta developed AI for children without safeguards. [7] Tech firms monetized superficial bonds. [7] Snapchat handled 10,000 monthly sextortion reports poorly. [8] Roxy's school punished her instead of helping. [8] Sweden's Public Health Institute issued no screen guidelines until 2024. [9] The Agency for the Media offered no advice until recently. [9] The government mandated digital tools in preschools in 2019 before reversing. [9] Instagram profited from children's attention without accountability. [10] UK regulator Ofcom now enforces harm reductions under new laws. [10]
▶ Supporting Quotes (21)
“MetasInternalResearch.org, a new website that catalogues 31 internal studies carried out by Meta Inc. The studies were leaked by whistleblowers or made public through litigation — despite Meta’s intentions to keep them hidden.”— Mountains of Evidence
“Since 2017, that argument has been made by nearly all researchers who are dismissive about the harms of social media.”— Mountains of Evidence
“we then outsource their social and neural development to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. ... platforms (which have shown repeatedly that they will not protect children unless forced to by law)”— Why Every Country Should Set 16 (or Higher) as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts
“We show that company insiders were aware of multiple widespread and serious harms, and that they were often acting under the orders of company leadership to maximize engagement regardless of the harm to children.”— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“Snap executives have admitted that Snapchat’s age verification system 'Is effectively useless in stopping underage users from signing up to the Snapchat app.'”— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“As Snap’s director of security engineering said regarding Android users who are selling drugs or child sexual abuse material on Snap: 'That’s fine it’s been broken for ten years we can tolerate tonight.'”— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“In a leaked internal presentation 2021 from EA, owner of FIFA, it stated the following: 'Players will be actively messaged + incentivized to convert throughout the summer. FUT is the cornerstone and we are doing everything we can to drive players there.'”— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“A study from Harvard found that social media companies made $11 billion from advertising aimed at children in 2022. Advertisers are willing to cough up this eleven-figure sum because social media platforms extract huge amounts of time and attention from kids.”— How Tech Companies Rig Parental Guilt
“The difficulties parents face with setting media and screentime boundaries was highlighted earlier this year in a study by the Family Online Safety Institute, which found that only around half of parents use parental control on tablets, with even fewer using parental controls on other devices.”— How Tech Companies Rig Parental Guilt
“with vocal groups on both sides, and tech giants spending a lot of money to influence the debate”— Strong Public Support To Restrict Social Media for Children in Germany
“some of the largest companies on earth can no longer form business relationships with young children or use their personal data to keep them hooked on feeds, likes, and alerts.”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
“At present, the companies bear no responsibility for age verification, so no matter how hard parents try, if a 10-year-old child can get to a web browser, she can set up as many accounts as she wants simply by saying she is 13.”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
“Meta’s AIs were specifically permitted to engage in “sensual conversations” with children, according to a leaked internal policy memo that was approved by Meta’s full leadership.”— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“It’s currently estimated that teens spend five hours per day, on average, just on social media platforms.”— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“Unredacted lawsuits from Snapchat reveal that the company receives roughly 10,000 reports of sextortion every month, a figure that their researchers say represents only a fraction of the abuse occurring on their platform.”— Growing up Online Nearly Killed Me
“The school laid the blame firmly at Roxy’s feet while urging us to “move on” as soon as possible. I now believe this was for their reputational benefit.”— Growing up Online Nearly Killed Me
“Until very recently, Sweden’s Public Health Institute had no screen-time guidelines.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“Not even the Swedish Agency for the Media — whose primary task is to protect minors from harmful media use and increase media literacy in the general population — had any advice for parents.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“In 2019, the government went a step further by mandating the use of digital tools in the national preschool curriculum.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“companies that had come to own much of childhood, and that were turning children’s attention into profits, should bear responsibility for the harms children were encountering on their service.”— The UK Is Doing the Hard Work of Protecting Children Online
“After the Children’s Codes came into force this past July, the positive effects were immediate, not least of which has been a strong indication that platforms have vastly reduced the frequency at which children are recommended pornography and self-harm content.”— The UK Is Doing the Hard Work of Protecting Children Online
The Foundation
The idea that correlations between heavy social media use and mental health issues did not prove causation gained traction due to possible reverse causality or other factors. Growing evidence from experiments, including Meta's, suggests use worsens health while quitting improves it, increasingly seen as challenging the safety assumption. [1] Studies like those by Hancock in 2022 and Ferguson in 2024 claimed small effects by mixing all tech and groups, but focusing on girls' heavy social media use reveals larger impacts on depression and anxiety. [1] Puberty's brain plasticity makes social media's effects lasting, undermining views of it as harmless. [2] Self-regulation develops into the mid-20s, with puberty's changes most profound, contradicting assumptions of teen readiness for online risks. [2] TikTok's internal data linked compulsive use to losses in skills and well-being, yet this was sidelined for metrics. [3] Snapchat knew of underage access but tolerated it. [3] Parental controls seemed adequate but proved ineffective against addictive designs. [4] Features like infinite scroll were marketed as enhancements, fostering beliefs parents could manage them. [4] Platforms' age-13 rules with consent for older teens propped up self-regulation ideas, ignored in practice. [5] The belief in 13 as digital maturity stemmed from early internet optimism but ignored addiction risks. [6] Self-reported ages created false confidence. [6] Constant stimulation was sold as connectivity, eroding attention. [7] Online life was assumed to aid flourishing, dismissing harms. [7] Schools taught online safety as sufficient, downplaying risks. [8] Teen behaviors were seen as normal, missing grooming signs. [8] Nordic freedom extended to online spaces, ignoring dangers. [9] High screen use correlated with poor PISA scores. [9] The 'age of adulthood' at 13 enabled lax oversight, misleading on vulnerabilities. [10]
▶ Supporting Quotes (18)
“The fact that heavy users of social media are more depressed than light users doesn’t prove that social media caused the depression. Perhaps depressed people are more lonely, so they rely on Instagram more for social contact? Or perhaps there’s some third variable (such as neglectful parenting) that causes both?”— Mountains of Evidence
“We take a magnifying glass to some widely cited studies that claim to show only trivial associations or effects between social media use and harm to adolescents (e.g., Hancock et al. (2022) and Ferguson (2024). We show that these studies actually reveal much larger associations when the most theoretically central relationships are examined — for example, when you focus the analysis on heavy social media use (rather than blending together all digital tech) linked specifically to depression or anxiety (rather than blending together all well-being outcomes) for adolescent girls (rather than blending in boys and adults).”— Mountains of Evidence
“Developmental psychologists see puberty as a “sensitive period” in which the brain is especially “plastic” or malleable based on incoming experience. The brain is changing over from the child form to the adult form, and those changes are guided by whatever a child does repeatedly. Neurons that fire together wire together, as brain researchers say.”— Why Every Country Should Set 16 (or Higher) as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts
“The ability to self-regulate improves steadily throughout adolescence, only reaching a plateau in the mid 20s.”— Why Every Country Should Set 16 (or Higher) as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts
““Compulsive usage correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety,” in addition to “interfer[ing] with essential personal responsibilities like sufficient sleep, work/school responsibilities, and connecting with loved ones.””— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“Snap executives have admitted that Snapchat’s age verification system 'Is effectively useless in stopping underage users from signing up to the Snapchat app.'”— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“Another study asked parents what they thought about parental controls for gaming. Parents said that such controls “don’t always work as promised, offer little context about how settings affect gameplay, and force binary choices that don’t align with household rules or with children’s maturity levels.””— How Tech Companies Rig Parental Guilt
“Features like infinite scroll, autoplay, incessant notifications, FOMO, peer validation, and cheap dopamine hits are just a few of the ways tech companies keep kids engaged. These intentional design choices keep kids online much longer than is healthy — and far longer than many parents would prefer.”— How Tech Companies Rig Parental Guilt
“Most platforms stipulate an unenforced minimum age of 13 in their terms of use, and young people ages 13–16-years-old need their parents’ consent. However, usage data among children below the age of 13 show that these rules are effectively ignored in practice.”— Strong Public Support To Restrict Social Media for Children in Germany
“This reform finally corrects two major mistakes made in the early days of the internet: the United States (and then much of the world) set the age of “internet adulthood” to 13, and companies were given no responsibility to verify age at all.”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
“As long as a child could type “13,” companies could treat them like adults.”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
““I’d keep them busy. Always distracted.” “I’d watch their minds rot slowly, sweetly, silently. And the best part is, they’d never know it was me. They’d call it freedom.””— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“Growing up online, kids learn to live in ways that directly contradict the advice given to us by the world’s great spiritual traditions.”— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“When we were taught about “online safety” at school, it always felt completely unrelatable. Teachers didn’t get it, and the information felt so far from the reality of our experiences. The case studies seemed extreme, and honestly, I thought there was no way I would ever be the person stupid enough to end up in those situations.”— Growing up Online Nearly Killed Me
“So when Roxy retreated further, became ultra-secretive, and wouldn’t look me in the eye, I thought, “Here we go, Kevin the Teenager has moved in.””— Growing up Online Nearly Killed Me
“In her book The Danish Secret to Happy Kids, author Helen Russell argues that because Nordic countries’ social codex traditionally gave children lots of freedom to play outdoors (a positive), they misguidedly granted children the same wide-ranging freedom online.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“When the Swedish National Agency for Education analyzed the results, they concluded that the students with the highest digital media use for things other than learning, both at school and at home, performed the worst.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“children on the internet are not actually adults, even when they claim to be 13 (which is the internet’s current “age of adulthood.”)”— The UK Is Doing the Hard Work of Protecting Children Online
How It Spread
The assumption gained ground in academic circles and testimonies since 2017, with researchers and Mark Zuckerberg stressing correlation's limits. [1] Meta hid causal research, revealed only through leaks. [1] Peer pressure among children pushed parents to allow access. [2] TikTok leaders dismissed fixes that hurt metrics. [3] Snapchat employees noted inaction on sextortion. [3] Tech designs prioritized engagement, undermining family rules. [4] Giants spent to oppose restrictions. [5] The US model spread globally via profit incentives. [6] Parents faced pressure to avoid isolating kids. [6] Marketing framed phones as freedom tools. [7] Platforms normalized heavy use with like-driven content. [7] Smartphones became standard for teens via excuses. [8] Sweden's tech culture embraced screens early. [9] Doubts were labeled moral panics. [9] Self-regulation defaults treated 13 as adulthood, pushed by advocacy. [10]
▶ Supporting Quotes (15)
“Social scientists have been debating this question intensively since 2017. ... In the last few years, however, a flood of new research has altered the landscape of the debate”— Mountains of Evidence
“We found information on 31 studies related to the product safety question that Meta conducted between 2018 and 2024. ... The evidence was collected and hidden by Meta itself.”— Mountains of Evidence
“Parents everywhere have heard their children invoke the mantra “but everyone else has one! I’m being left out!” in their daily struggles over smartphones, tablets, social media, video games, and other screen-based activities. ... That’s a perfect example of what economists call a collective action trap”— Why Every Country Should Set 16 (or Higher) as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts
“one TikTok employee explained, '[w]hen we make changes, we make sure core metrics aren’t affected.' This is because '[l]eaders don’t buy into problems' with unhealthy and compulsive usage, and work to address it is 'not a priority for any other team.'”— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“With regard to sextortion on the platform [Snap receives ~10,000 cases of sextortion each month], one employee had complained in a private channel: 'God I’m so pissed that were over-run by this sextortion shit right now. We’ve twiddled our thumbs and wrung our hands all f…ing year.'”— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“At first, the family had a strict rule: no phones until age 16. But when Talita’s oldest started high school, the rule proved impossible to maintain — all of her daughter’s peers had smartphones, so she reluctantly agreed to let her have one as well.”— How Tech Companies Rig Parental Guilt
“tech giants spending a lot of money to influence the debate”— Strong Public Support To Restrict Social Media for Children in Germany
“the United States (and then much of the world) set the age of “internet adulthood” to 13”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
“Parents want this. They know social media can harm their children, yet many feel trapped because everyone else’s kids are already online.”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
“Chat’s responses were profound and unsettling: “I wouldn’t come with violence. I’d come with convenience.” “I’d keep them busy. Always distracted.””— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“Content becomes popular not because it conveys wisdom but because it comes tagged with popularity via likes, view counts, or the prestige of the person who shared it.”— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“Roxy got a phone when she was 13, and almost immediately battle lines were drawn. Just managing the hours was a challenge, let alone the content. The excuses were always just plausible enough: I need it for school, I need it to make a plan, I need it to sleep.”— Growing up Online Nearly Killed Me
“Sweden isn’t just the land of fika, flat-pack furniture, and the Nobel Prize — it’s also one of the most tech-forward countries on Earth. Spotify, Minecraft, Candy Crush, and the famous YouTuber PewDiePie, who has more than 110 million followers, all hail from here.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“Anyone who questioned the nation’s blind faith in digital childhood was treated like a moral panic peddler and cultural reactionary, not unlike those who once claimed that jazz music was the work of the devil.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“As Beeban shuttled around between London, Washington, and Silicon Valley, she advocated for the novel idea that children on the internet are not actually adults”— The UK Is Doing the Hard Work of Protecting Children Online
Resulting Policies
Australia introduced age restrictions recognizing harms, countering prior safety views. [1] Platforms set age 13 as minimum but allowed easy fabrication. [2] Germany had no legal age or verification, relying on self-regulation. [5] US policy established 13 as contract age without checks, adopted worldwide. [6] Meta permitted AI for sensual child interactions. [7] Roxy's school punished victims over reporting. [8] Sweden mandated digital tools for preschoolers in 2019, now reversing. [9] From 2026, Sweden bans phones in schools and funds textbooks. [9] UK shifted from no safeguards pre-2021 to the Age Appropriate Design Code and 2023 Online Safety Act requiring risk mitigations. [10]
▶ Supporting Quotes (9)
“They want to know if social media is a reasonably safe consumer product, or if they should keep their kids (or all kids) away from it until they reach a certain age (as Australia is doing).”— Mountains of Evidence
“no parent has full control over when their child opens social media accounts. If the child can get to the internet anywhere, including at school, she can open as many accounts as she likes as long as she’s old enough to say she’s 13.”— Why Every Country Should Set 16 (or Higher) as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts
“Currently, there is no legally defined age minimum for social media use in Germany, nor is there any regulation requiring platforms to verify users’ ages.”— Strong Public Support To Restrict Social Media for Children in Germany
“the United States (and then much of the world) set the age of “internet adulthood” to 13, and companies were given no responsibility to verify age at all.”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
“Meta’s AIs were specifically permitted to engage in “sensual conversations” with children, according to a leaked internal policy memo that was approved by Meta’s full leadership.”— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“I was called in by the school and told that “luckily for me, they would not be contacting the police.” I was punished for breaking the school’s tech rules.”— Growing up Online Nearly Killed Me
“In 2019, the government went a step further by mandating the use of digital tools in the national preschool curriculum.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“Phones are now banned from classrooms unless specifically needed, and starting in 2026, a nationwide school phone ban will take effect for the full school day.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“Beeban was the architect of the UK’s landmark and world-leading Age Appropriate Design Code, which took effect in 2021.”— The UK Is Doing the Hard Work of Protecting Children Online
Harm Caused
Growing evidence suggests social media causes widespread harms, including millions of cyberbullying and sextortion cases annually, with risks comparable to child maltreatment affecting tens of millions. [1] Meta's experiment showed deactivating accounts reduced depression and anxiety. [1] Adolescent mental health declined sharply after 2010, with rises in depression and self-harm across the West. [1] Daily use averages five hours, damaging health, relationships, and education. [2] Instagram data revealed weekly bullying for 11% of young teens. [2] Nearly half of teens say it harms sleep and grades. [2] Snapchat enabled thousands of sextortion cases monthly. [3] TikTok use eroded skills and increased anxiety. [3] Half of US parents feel guilty, leading to stress. [4] Children's grades slipped amid excessive use. [4] Younger mothers faced more guilt, with many wishing platforms gone. [4] In Germany, most see negative health impacts. [5] Majorities note harms to attention and performance. [5] Many prefer a world without it. [5] Addictive designs caused bullying and isolation. [6] Families saw increased strife and lost joys. [6] Gen Z reported more meaninglessness post-2013. [7] Attention eroded, hindering learning. [7] Teens faced loneliness despite connections. [7] Sextortion drove Roxy to self-harm and suicide attempts. [8] Another girl died similarly. [8] Sweden's PISA scores fell with high screen use. [9] Teachers reported distractions. [9] Mental health declined post-2012. [9] UK children faced unsupervised use, pornography, and advances, with most seeing more harm than good. [10] Many tried cutting back, believing life better without it for youth. [10]
▶ Supporting Quotes (27)
“First, there is now a lot more work revealing a wide range of direct harms caused by social media that extends beyond mental health (e.g., cyberbullying, sextortion, and exposure to algorithmically amplified content promoting suicide, eating-disorders, and self-harm). These direct harms are not correlations; they are harms reported by millions of young people each year.”— Mountains of Evidence
“In pilot tests of the study, researchers found that “people who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social comparison.” One Meta researcher also stated that “the Nielsen study does show causal impact on social comparison.””— Mountains of Evidence
“Was the spread of social media in the early 2010s (as smartphones were widely adopted) a major contributing cause of the big increases in adolescent depression, anxiety, and self-harm that began in the U.S. and many other Western countries soon afterward?”— Mountains of Evidence
“The average adolescent in the U.S. now spends around five hours a day using social media. ... The results have been catastrophic for their mental health, social relationships, education, and ability to focus for more than a few minutes.”— Why Every Country Should Set 16 (or Higher) as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts
“One internal Instagram study found that 11% of 13-15 year olds reported being a target of bullying, 13% reported receiving an unwanted sexual advance, 19% reported seeing unwanted sexually explicit content, and 21% reported seeing posts that made them feel worse about themselves every seven days.”— Why Every Country Should Set 16 (or Higher) as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts
“In a recent Pew poll, 45% of teens reported that they themselves felt they used social media too much with many suggesting that it affects their sleep and their grades.”— Why Every Country Should Set 16 (or Higher) as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts
“With regard to sextortion on the platform [Snap receives ~10,000 cases of sextortion each month]”— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
““Compulsive usage correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety,” in addition to “interfer[ing] with essential personal responsibilities like sufficient sleep, work/school responsibilities, and connecting with loved ones.””— A Year of Real Progress for Kids
“Coyne’s data showed that many parents feel guilty about being inconsistent in their parenting or disciplining around media (55%); the amount of time their children spend on media (46%); and putting their own needs regarding media above their children (67%).”— How Tech Companies Rig Parental Guilt
“Within weeks, she noticed her daughter’s grades slipping and wondered if she had made a mistake. ... Talita says she feels the most guilt about her five-year-old, who uses far more media than her older children did at the same age.”— How Tech Companies Rig Parental Guilt
“Guilt increased as mother’s age decreased (an effect size of -0.10), meaning that younger mothers experienced more guilt... A recent Harris poll found that clear majorities of parents wish that many social media platforms, including TikTok, X, Instagram, and Facebook were never invented.”— How Tech Companies Rig Parental Guilt
“90% of adults in Germany and 96% of adolescents report using social media every day... Seventy-eight percent of adolescents use social media for an hour or more on weekdays, and 55% of adolescents spend more than three hours per weekend day on social media.”— Strong Public Support To Restrict Social Media for Children in Germany
“77% of adults and 61% of adolescents believe that social media has a negative impact on mental health, and 73% and 66%, respectively, believe it has a negative impact on physical health.”— Strong Public Support To Restrict Social Media for Children in Germany
“Respondents also expect negative effects on attention and school performance: 72% of adults and 59% of adolescents perceive negative effects on youths’ attention, and 69% and 54%, respectively, see negative effects on school performance.”— Strong Public Support To Restrict Social Media for Children in Germany
“a plurality of 47% of adults would rather live in a world without social media, while 40% would prefer to live in a world with social media.”— Strong Public Support To Restrict Social Media for Children in Germany
“the industrial scale harms caused by social media companies.”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
“It will reduce the social pressure on kids, give parents back their authority, and help restore a healthier childhood.”— Australia’s New Social Media Regulations Put Childhood First
“You can see a sudden change in the spiritual health of young Americans in a long-running national survey of high school seniors who were asked whether “life often feels meaningless.” The figure below shows the percent who answered that they “agree” or “strongly agree.” The numbers were low and even declining a bit back when Gen X and millennials were in high school. But as soon as Gen Z entered the dataset, around 2013, meaninglessness surged.”— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“American high school seniors suddenly started reporting a lot more “difficulty thinking or concentrating.””— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“People will accumulate “connections” while feeling lonelier than ever. Superficial bonds are easier to monetize and manipulate than the deep ties of family, friendship, and community.”— The Devil’s Plan to Ruin the Next Generation
“I started cutting, making myself sick after meals, and stopped sleeping. The anxious voice in my head telling me I was a disgusting slut got louder and more controlling until I was literally hearing voices everywhere”— Growing up Online Nearly Killed Me
“a week earlier he had been called to the house of another 14-year-old girl. Almost exactly the same experience — older boys, photos, blackmail. But they couldn’t revive the poor child.”— Growing up Online Nearly Killed Me
“In the 2022 international PISA assessment, Swedish 15-year-olds recorded their lowest scores in math and reading in a decade, with more than a quarter of the students falling into the low-performing category in math.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“Teachers saw the same trend from the front lines. Nearly 9 in 10 said that smartphones were harming students’ learning, stamina and attention spans.”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“Just like in the Anglosphere, screens, smartphones and social media reshaped adolescence in the Nordic countries starting around 2012, and a decline in teen mental health quickly followed”— Sweden Went All in on Screens in Childhood. Now It’s Pulling the Plug.
“By the age of five, 20 percent of UK children are using social media apps without parental supervision. By 13, half of children in the UK have seen pornography online. Among 13- to 15-year-olds, one in eight report receiving unwanted sexual advances on Instagram in the past week.”— The UK Is Doing the Hard Work of Protecting Children Online
“Nearly two-thirds of British 16- to 18-year-olds have tried to cut back on their smartphone use. A clear majority of young people in the UK aged 16 to 24 (62%) say social media “does more harm than good,” and more than half of Gen Z respondents (55%) believe life would be better if social media were banned for under-16s.”— The UK Is Doing the Hard Work of Protecting Children Online
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