Social Media Bans Are Wildly Popular. They Might Also Be a Mistake.
From Machines Like Us by The Globe and Mail
June 9, 2026 · 58 min · Episode 48
About this episode
The episode discusses the global trend of banning social media for kids under 16 and the skepticism surrounding its effectiveness, featuring insights from psychologist Candice Odgers.
Towards the end of last year, Australia did something no other country had ever tried: it banned social media for kids under 16. And a bunch of others are following with similar laws, first Denmark, then France, then Indonesia and Austria. All in, there are now more than 25 countries that have either implemented, or are actively considering, social media bans for kids. It seems like Canada is moving there as well. In April, the Liberal party adopted a non-binding motion to restrict young people’s access to both social media and AI chatbots. All over the world, you can hear parents breathing a sigh of relief. They’ve spent the last decade watching their kids become hooked on their devices, and now we’re doing something about it. It looks like we’re finally going to get our kids back. But researchers like Candice Odgers are skeptical. Odgers is a psychology professor at UC Irvine who’s been studying the digital lives of young people for almost 20 years now, long before anyone was worried about what social media was doing to their brains. She says there isn’t really any research to suggest these bans will work. But her argument goes even deeper than that: she says the idea that…
People in this episode
Guest: Candice Odgers
Topics covered
- social media bans
- youth mental health
- digital lives of young people
- government regulations
- parenting
- psychology
Keywords
- social media
- bans
- youth
- mental health
- Candice Odgers
- government
- regulations
- psychology
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: UC Irvine, Liberal party
Places: Australia, Denmark, France, Indonesia, Austria, Canada
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