Governments are moving quickly to restrict minors' access to social media, but the latest edition of MIT Technology Review's The Download argues these bans are not the answer. In July, France moved to bar children under 15 from major platforms, following Australia's earlier ban, before the measure was blocked by the country's top court on human rights grounds. The UK has said it wants to forbid under-16s from Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms in early 2027, and the EU has announced its own plan to prohibit social media for kids under 15.
Early lessons from Australia, which enacted a ban in 2024, show that age restrictions are easily circumvented. The authors—Michal Luria, Aliya Bhatia, and Danah Boyd—see that as a sign that the policy approach is misguided. Instead of treating kids who bypass restrictions as a problem to solve, they argue, the focus should be on what actually keeps young people safe online.
The newsletter presents a single editorial viewpoint, so there are no competing sources to compare. It leaves the alternative approach largely unnamed in the excerpt, but the argument is clear: more age bans are not a substitute for a credible child-safety strategy.